Reputation concern influences perceived leadership

Having a positive reputation generally yields more social benefits than a negative one. While individuals typically strive for a good reputation, their concern for it varies. This pre-registered study investigates how reputation concerns influence others’ social evaluations of a protagonist, particularly in the context of leadership. In this study, participants (N = 363) read profiles of individuals exhibiting either high or low concern for their reputation and rated their suitability for leadership in both competitive and cooperative settings.

Results indicated that in intergroup competitive situations, individuals with low reputation concerns were more likely to be endorsed as leaders compared to those with high reputation concerns (Leadership endorsement scores: M_low = 4.00, M_high = 3.23, p < .001, η_p² = 0.09). In contrast, in intergroup cooperative situations, individuals with high reputation concerns were more likely to be endorsed as leaders (M_low = 3.30, M_high = 3.76, p < .001, η_p² = 0.04). This study extends previous research on the factors influencing leadership endorsement and provides valuable insights into how individuals are endorsed as leaders across different contexts.