Successful leaders rise when their own conflicts match their followers’ needs

Evidence

Erikson offered a theory of the relation between leaders and their societies that is explicitly focused on the relation between leaders’ and followers’ characteristics. On the basis of several studies of “inspiring and effective [men] of action” such as Hitler, Luther, and Gandhi (Erikson, 1950, 1958, and 1969, respectively), Erikson concluded that leaders, with their own identities, conflicts, and needs, are “found and chosen by contemporaries possessed of analogous conflicts and corresponding needs” (1964, p. 204). In other words, the success of such leaders depends on a match between their own personal characteristics and the historically conditioned characteristics of their potential followers. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 1288

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the person-situation interaction debate in personality psychology (Mischel 1968 critique of trait theory); Erikson’s match theory is the leadership version of interactionism. — connects to: Leader popularity stems from leader-follower congruence while greatness stems from leader traits — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology: Key Readings, 1361; Leaders are accepted only when embodying features shared with followers — Ernesto Laclau, On Populist Reason, 153