Context effects in leadership perception

In this study, participants perceived the same job candidate to display mor e leader qualities when his potential group was a troubled one rather than a tranquil one. They described this person more favorably as a leader and f alsely recognized him as having performed more leadership consistent and fe wer leadership irrelevant behaviors in a test of recognition memory. Using Jacoby's process-dissociation procedure, the author discovered that unconsc ious (rather than conscious) memory processes completely mediated this cont ext effect-a mediation indicative of either postconscious or goal-dependent context effects in leadership perception. Previous studies have demonstrat ed that context affects perceptions of incumbent leaders. This study demons trates that context also can affect perceptions of potential leaders, with a troubled context magnifying those qualities that are consistent with indi viduals' implicit theories and romanticized conceptions of leadership.