Departing from the static perspective of leader charisma that prevails in the literature, we propose a dynamic perspective of charismatic leadership in which group perceptions of leader charisma influence and are influenced by group mood. Based on a longitudinal experimental study conducted for 3 weeks involving 116 intact, self-managing student groups, we found that T1 group perceptions of leader charisma mediate the effect of leader trait expressivity on T2 positive and negative group moods. T2 positive and negative group moods influence T3 distal charisma perceptions by affecting T2 proximal perceptions of leader effectiveness. The current findings offer critical insights into (a) the reciprocal relationship between group perceptions of leader charisma and group mood, (b) the dynamic and transient nature of group perceptions of leader charisma, (c) the importance of understanding negative mood in charismatic leadership, and (d) the mechanism through which charismatic leadership perceptions can be formed and sustained over time.
Researchers and practitioners alike have been interested in charismatic leaders because of their influence on group outcomes (Bass, 1998 and Bass and Riggio, 2006). Charismatic leaders conjure images of masterful leaders orchestrating and channeling the mood of followers in unison to triumph over seemingly insurmountable challenges and to achieve performance beyond expectations. Although the efficacy of charismatic leaders is postulated to operate through this affect elicitation in groups, the body of research examining the emotional aspects of charisma is surprisingly small (Erez et al., 2008 and Jung and Sosik, 2006) despite hundreds of studies on the correlation and effects of charisma (e.g., see meta analyses of DeGroot et al., 2000 and Fuller et al., 1996). Only a few studies have examined the link between leader charisma and follower affect (i.e., Bono and Ilies, 2006, Cherulnik et al., 2001, Damen et al., 2008, Johnson, 2008 and Johnson, 2009), and only one study has examined this link at the group level (Erez et al., 2008), which is the focus of the current research. Empirical research demonstrates that the interpersonal dynamics of dyads is qualitatively different compared with that of groups (Laughlin, Hatch, Silver, & Boh, 2006) because groups are governed by group norms and a complex network of past relationships among multiple members. The extent that the effects of charismatic leadership are manifested through group mood makes understanding the fundamental nature of this relationship imperative.
Leader charisma is identified as a driver of follower mood (Cherulnik et al., 2001) and group mood (Erez et al., 2008). The expressive communication style associated with charismatic leadership is presumed to precipitate this effect (Bono and Ilies, 2006, Johnson, 2008 and Johnson, 2009), although empirical validation of this relationship is rare. Thus, we investigate the extent to which leader expressivity (as a trait) explains the emergence of group mood by shaping group perceptions of leader charisma. Conversely, social constructionist views of leadership argue that experiences of groups constitute an antecedent of shared perceptions of leadership (Meindl, 1995), making it likely that group mood will influence group perceptions of charisma. Therefore, the idea that group perceptions of leader charisma influence group mood and group mood influences group perceptions of leader charisma is possible, resulting in a reciprocal feedback loop between leader charisma and group mood.
Extant research has only focused on one or the other side of this equation, leaving the issue on which between leader charisma and group mood is the cause and which is the consequence unresolved. A reliance on correlational and non-longitudinal experimental designs has exacerbated this problem (Bono and Ilies, 2006, Cherulnik et al., 2001, Damen et al., 2008, Erez et al., 2008 and Johnson, 2008). In the current study, we test these relationships with intact, self-managing work groups (i.e., with existing norms and interaction histories) using a longitudinal experimental design unfolding over 3 weeks that offers both ecological validity and methodological rigor. Thus, we propose a recursive feedback loop between group perceptions of leader charisma and group mood (see Fig. 1 for the overall conceptual framework)
