A social identity analysis of leadership endorsement: The effects of leader ingroup prototypicality and distributive intergroup fairness

This study (N = 216) measured the strength of endorsements for ingroup lead ers who varied in both their relative ingroup prototypicality and distribut ive intergroup fairness. Leadership endorsement overall was positively rela ted to group members' levels of social identification and negatively relate d to their levels of reported self-interest. Among low identifiers, however , leaders' distributive behavior reliably predicted endorsements, with stro nger endorsements Provided for distributively fair than unfair leaders. Amo ng high identifiers, in contrast, both leaders' distributive behavior and r elative ingroup prototypicality were important. Leaders high in ingroup pro totypicality received strong endorsements from high identifiers regardless of the leaders' ingroup favoring, outgroup-favoring, or fair intergroup beh avior Leaders low in ingroup prototypicality and who were relatively simila r to the outgroup received strong endorsements from high identifiers only w hen the leaders made ingroup-favoring distributions. These data are interpr eted within a social identity theory framework.