MELDING THE OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE SIDES OF LEADERSHIP - COMMUNICATION AND SOCIAL JUDGMENTS IN DECISION-MAKING GROUPS

This examination tests whether ''inferential'' models are capable of p redicting group members' leadership-relevant judgments and evaluations of one another after a group discussion. Results in samples of both s tanding and zero-history groups showed that judgments of communicative behaviors strongly predicted judgments of the communicator's traits a nd that both behavioral and trait judgments strongly predicted leaders hip evaluations. However, measures of actual communication were poor p redictors of trait judgments and leadership evaluations and were gener ally unrelated with judgments of these behaviors. These findings imply that leadership-relevant judgments and evaluations are largely implic it-theory based and only tangentially associated with actual behaviora l performances.