Is There a Relationship between Theory of Mind and the Number of Leadership Roles a Person Holds?
Presentation Type
Poster
Faculty Advisor
Laura Lakusta
Access Type
Event
Start Date
26-4-2024 12:45 PM
End Date
26-4-2024 1:45 PM
Description
Leadership can be seen as the ability to guide and influence others towards common goals. When we consider how cognitive abilities like Theory of Mind (ToM) relate to leadership experiences, we are essentially looking at how understanding others' thoughts, feelings, and perspectives influences one's effectiveness in leading and managing people. By exploring the link between ToM and leadership roles, we aim to understand if having a strong ToM capacity correlates with holding more leadership positions. The study examined four ToM measures: the Director’s task, the Yoni task, the revised Reading the Mind in the Eyes task (RME), and the Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition (MASC). Participants self-reported their leadership roles. Significant correlations were found between all four ToM measures and self-reported leadership roles. Number of leadership roles had a small, positive relationship with the following measures: the RME (r(414) = 0.17, p < 0.001), the Yoni task (r(415) = 0.095, p = 0.05), the MASC (r(394) = 0.14, p < 0.01) and the Director’s Task (r(415) = 0.14, p = 0.03). These findings have significant implications with understanding the relationship between ToM and leadership roles. These implications can guide the development of activities to enhance ToM abilities, thus fostering greater inclusivity in the workplace. Further research may also explore why the RME has the strongest correlation and how it is important in understanding it in the context of leadership.
Is There a Relationship between Theory of Mind and the Number of Leadership Roles a Person Holds?
Leadership can be seen as the ability to guide and influence others towards common goals. When we consider how cognitive abilities like Theory of Mind (ToM) relate to leadership experiences, we are essentially looking at how understanding others' thoughts, feelings, and perspectives influences one's effectiveness in leading and managing people. By exploring the link between ToM and leadership roles, we aim to understand if having a strong ToM capacity correlates with holding more leadership positions. The study examined four ToM measures: the Director’s task, the Yoni task, the revised Reading the Mind in the Eyes task (RME), and the Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition (MASC). Participants self-reported their leadership roles. Significant correlations were found between all four ToM measures and self-reported leadership roles. Number of leadership roles had a small, positive relationship with the following measures: the RME (r(414) = 0.17, p < 0.001), the Yoni task (r(415) = 0.095, p = 0.05), the MASC (r(394) = 0.14, p < 0.01) and the Director’s Task (r(415) = 0.14, p = 0.03). These findings have significant implications with understanding the relationship between ToM and leadership roles. These implications can guide the development of activities to enhance ToM abilities, thus fostering greater inclusivity in the workplace. Further research may also explore why the RME has the strongest correlation and how it is important in understanding it in the context of leadership.