[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-86640-en":3,"doc-seo-86640-105":29,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":20,"is_downloadable":20,"audit_status":20,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":27,"read_time":28},86640,7971461740886,"Theodore","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_3d24733baf745e90a7e4bdd5f77d97b2",8,"Research & Report","Do I Dare The Psychodynamics of Anticipated Image Risk Leader-Identity Endorsement and Leader Emergence","Leadership emergence is often hindered because people hesitate to step up to lead. The article examines how anticipated image risk—beliefs that leading may damage one’s image—interacts with lay beliefs about whether leadership ability is fixed or malleable. Results across MBA consulting teams, supervisor–employee dyads, and virtual workers show that these lay theories buffer the negative effects of image risk on leader-identity endorsement, which in turn shapes subsequent emergence. Multiple studies also identify and test specific image concerns tied to leading.","r Academy of Management Journal 2023, Vol. 66, No. 2, 374–401.  \n[https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2018.1258](https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2018.1258)  \nDO I DARE? THE PSYCHODYNAMICS OF ANTICIPATED IMAGE RISK, LEADER-IDENTITY ENDORSEMENT, AND  \nLEADER EMERGENCE  \nJULIA LEE CUNNINGHAM  \nUniversity of Michigan  \nLAURA SONDAY  \nUniversity of North Carolina Chapel Hill  \nSUSAN J. ASHFORD  \nUniversity of Michigan  \nAlthough many organizations value leadership across levels, individuals are reluctant to step up and lead. We explore how anticipated image risk (i.e., individuals’ beliefs that the act of leading might harm their image with others) and lay beliefs about leadership ability (i.e., that this ability is fixed versus malleable) may diminish individuals’endorsement of a leader identity and thus their leadership emergence. Across MBA consulting teams, supervisor–employee dyads, and virtual workers, we find that lay theories of leadership ability moderate the negative relationship between anticipated image risk in leadership and leader-identity endorsement, which affects subsequent leadership emergence (Study 1) . Using qualitative survey data, Study 2 identifies three specific image concerns that individuals associated with leading: seeming bossy, seeming unqualified, and seeming different from one’s peers. Study 3 tests whether a newly developed measure of three specific image risks similarly predicts leader-identity endorsement and emergence. Last, in Study 4 we experimentally manipulate the anticipation of image risk to show its causal impact on leader-identity endorsement and emergence.  \nTo stand out and excel, especially as a woman in the business world, you need to lead. Think of yourself asa leader first, and a consultant, designer, engineer, etc., second.  \n—Traci Entel, Chief Human Capital Officer and Partner, Booz & Company  \nWhat makes a person lead? Traci Entel’s admonition to “think of yourself as a leader first” offers a clue: when it comes to leadership, identity matters.  \nCorrespondence concerning this article should be addressed to Julia Lee Cunningham, [profjlee@umich.edu](profjlee@umich.edu). We are grateful for research assistance from Madeline Dickens, Nan Ni, Li Wang, Xi Chen, Vivian Chiang, and Zhonghan Wang, as well as support from the Ross Behavioral Lab and Dr. Lillian Chen. We are also grateful to Captain Jordan Garza and the anonymous cadets at the U.S. Air Force Officer Training School for their substantial investment of time and attention in this study. We thank Crystal Hoyt for her input and advice on measuring and manipulating lay theories of leadership ability. Last but not least, we are grateful to the associate editor, Subra Tangirala, and three anonymous reviewers for their guidance.  \nIt matters especially as organizations (and we who study them) move from equating leadership with the behavior of people in formally appointed supervisory positions (Ancona & Backman, 2008) to understanding leadership as a state that people (even formally appointed supervisors) intermittently enter and exit (Quinn, 2005) . Leadership entails a set of behaviors that employees at all levels within an organization can, and, many argue, should engage in (Ashford & Sitkin, 2019; Bedeian & Hunt, 2006; DeRue, Ashford, & Cotton, 2009) . Within this newer paradigm, and because leadership can feel very voluntary for those not in formal roles, having “leader”as part of one’s self-concept (i.e., a leader identity) may play a role in promoting both leadership development (Day, Harrison, & Halpin, 2009; Ibarra, Snook, & Guilln Ramo, 2010; Lord & Hall, 2005) and leadership emergence (Day & Sin, 2011) . Holding a leader identity motivates individuals to seek out developmental situations where such skills can be learned (Lord & Hall, 2005), and to step up and lead when leadership seems necessary (Badura, Galvin, & Lee, 2021; Day & Sin, 2011) .  \n374  \nCopyright of the Academy of Management, all rights reserved. Contents may not be ","cbCaiuWvoRQkkB0K","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiuWvoRQkkB0K","pdf",900867,1,28,"English","en",105,"# Overview\n## Leadership identity and emergence\n## Anticipated image risk and psychological defenses\n## Research design and studies\n## Identifying image concerns\n## Causal tests and measures","[{\"question\":\"What is anticipated image risk in the context of leadership?\",\"answer\":\"Anticipated image risk refers to individuals’ beliefs that taking leadership action might harm how others see them. This concern is framed as a psychological barrier to endorsing a leader identity and emerging as a leader.\"},{\"question\":\"How do lay beliefs about leadership ability affect leader-identity endorsement?\",\"answer\":\"Lay beliefs about whether leadership ability is fixed versus malleable moderate the negative relationship between anticipated image risk and leader-identity endorsement. When ability is seen as more malleable, the discouraging effect of image risk is reduced.\"},{\"question\":\"Which image concerns are linked to leading in the qualitative findings?\",\"answer\":\"Study 2 identifies three image concerns associated with leading: seeming bossy, seeming unqualified, and seeming different from one’s peers. These concerns are further used to develop and test a targeted measure in later studies.\"}]",1784237532,71,{"code":4,"msg":30,"data":31},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":32,"title":13,"keywords":33,"description":14,"schema_data":34,"social_meta":86,"head_meta":88,"extra_data":90,"updated_unix":27},"do-i-dare-the-psychodynamics-of-anticipated-image-risk-leader-identity-endorsement-and-leader-emergence","",{"@graph":35,"@context":85},[36,53,68],{"@type":37,"itemListElement":38},"BreadcrumbList",[39,43,47,50],{"item":40,"name":41,"@type":42,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":44,"name":45,"@type":42,"position":46},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":48,"name":12,"@type":42,"position":49},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":42,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/do-i-dare-the-psychodynamics-of-anticipated-image-risk-leader-identity-endorsement-and-leader-emergence/86640/",4,{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":40,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-07-17","2026-07-16",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71,77,81],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"What is anticipated image risk in the context of leadership?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"Anticipated image risk refers to individuals’ beliefs that taking leadership action might harm how others see them. 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