Power motives, personality correlates, and leadership outcomes: A person-centered approach

Abstract

Objective

We investigated how these motivations combined within individuals to form unique profiles, and how these different profiles relate to personality traits and team behaviors.

Background

Dominance, prestige, and leadership motives each play a key role in shaping social success or failure in gaining social rank and influence.

Method

We used latent profile analysis across two samples (engineering student project teams, N_student = 1088; working adults, N_worker = 466) to identify profile configurations and how such profiles related to important outcomes.

Results

We identified qualitatively distinct profiles: ultra-dominance profile (prominent dominance motive with high prestige and leadership motives); prestigious leadership profile (moderately high prestige and leadership motives, low dominance motive); and weak social power motive profile (low on all three motives). Individuals with the prestigious leadership profile were more likely to emerge as leaders, compared to those with a weak social power motive profile. People with an ultra-dominance profile scored higher on narcissism and tended to perceive themselves as leaders, despite not being deemed more leader-like by teammates.

Conclusion

Using a person-centered approach allowed us to identify three power motive profiles across independent samples and generate insights into how these profiles manifest different social behaviors and outcomes.