An Examination of the Effects of Charismatic Leadership on Follower Performance in Face-to-Face and Virtual Settings - by Brittany Ernst

Aug 29, 2026

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Charismatic leadership is treated as a trainable set of signaling skills with observable tactics that shape follower outcomes. The study addresses gaps in virtual-context evidence and experimental work linking charismatic leadership to behavioral results such as task performance. Drawing on signaling theory, two experiments test how charismatic versus non-charismatic instruction influences followers in face-to-face and virtual settings, with an additional study using video-based leader exposure and survey responses. Findings show benefits in face-to-face performance, limited effects virtually, and positive perceptions of leader prototypicality, competence, and influence.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryPresentations

FormatPDF

Pages116

Reading Time41 min

AccessFree to download

Table of Contents

List of Tables

List of Figures

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Method

Chapter 3: Results

Chapter 4: Discussion

References

Appendix A: Script for Speeches for Face-to-Face Experiment

Appendix B: Template for Face-to-Face Work Task

Appendix C: Template for Face-to-Face Optional Task

Appendix D: Follow-Up Survey

Appendix E: Email Invitation for Virtual Study

Appendix F: Task Instructions for Virtual Work Task

Appendix G: Script for Speeches for Virtual Experiment

Appendix H: Preview of Leader Videos

Appendix I: Sample of Study Sheet from Virtual Work Task

Appendix J: Sample of Study Sheet from Optional Virtual Work Task

AN EXAMINATION OF THE EFFECTS OF CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP ON FOLLOWER PERFORMANCE IN FACE-TO-FACE AND VIRTUAL SETTINGS by Brittany Ernst A dissertation submitted to the faculty of The University of North Carolina at Charlotte in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Organizational Science Charlotte 2020 Approved by: | Dr. George Banks | | --- | | Dr. Anita Blanchard | | Dr. Janaki Gooty | Dr. Jaime Bochantin ©2020 Brittany Ernst ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ABSTRACT BRITTANY ERNST. An examination of the effects of charismatic leadership on follower performance in face-to-face and virtual settings. (Under the direction of DR. GEORGE BANKS) Charismatic leadership is a powerful, trainable set of skills. Charismatic leaders achieve their effect on followers through the use of stories, metaphors, emotional messaging, and nonverbal gestures (Antonakis, Bastardoz, Jacquart, & Shamir, 2016) . Although many modern organizations rely heavily on technology-mediated communication, the power of charismatic leadership has not been fully examined in this context. Further, the field is lacking experimental research on charismatic leadership and behavioral outcomes, such as task performance. To address these limitations, I draw upon signaling theory to investigate how observable charismatic leadership tactics (CLTs) affect follower task and extra-role performance in a realistic setting. I conducted two experimental studies in which participants completed a task after receiving instruction from a charismatic or non-charismatic leader. CLTs were effective in increasing follower performance in a face-to-face setting (Study 1), but not in a virtual setting (Study 2) . In order to explore potential theoretical explanations of the effects of CLTs, I also conducted a study in which participants viewed a video of a charismatic or noncharismatic leader and responded to survey items (Study 3) . CLTs positively affected some perceptions ofthe leader (i.e., prototypicality, competence, and influencing ability) . Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. Specifically, I explain how signaling theory can be applied to charismatic leadership, and how charisma can be trained in an organizational context. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES v LIST OF FIGURES vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 2: METHOD 35 CHAPTER 3: RESULTS 54 CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION 61 REFERENCES 71 APPENDIX A: Script for Speeches for Face-to-Face Experiment 95 APPENDIX B: Template for Face-to-Face Work Task 98 APPENDIX C: Template for Face-to-Face Optional Task 99 APPENDIX D: Follow-Up Survey 100 APPENDIX E: Email Invitation for Virtual Study 102 APPENDIX F: Task Instructions for Virtual Work Task 103 APPENDIX G: Script for Speeches for Virtual Experiment 104 APPENDIX H: Preview of Leader Videos 107 APPENDIX I: Sample of Study Sheet from Virtual Work Task 108 APPENDIX J: Sample of Study Sheet from Optional Virtual Work Task 110 LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1: Charismatic Leadership Tactics (CLTs) 88 TABLE 2: Original and Adapted Items 90 TABLE 3: Descriptive Statistics for Study 3 91 TABLE 4: Results of Hypothesis Testing for H3-H10 92 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1: Signaling Theory and Charismatic Leadership 93 FIGURE 2: Results of Study 1 and Study 2 Task Performance 94 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Charismatic leadership is a powerful, trainable set of skills relevant for all kinds of leaders (Antonakis et al., 2011, 2012; Towler, 2003). Drawing upon signaling theory (Connelly et al., 2011), charismatic leadership is defined as “values-based, symbolic, and emotion-laden leader signaling”(Antonakis et al., 2016, p. 304) . Charismatic leadership predicts leader effectiveness (Awamleh & Gardner, 1999) , follower task performance and attitudes (Kirkpatrick & Locke, 1996) , cooperation (De Cremer & Van Knippenberg, 2002), and firm performance (Waldman et al., 2001) . More importantly

FAQs

什么是研究关注的核心问题？

研究关注有魅力型领导（charismatic leadership）对下属绩效的影响，并比较面对面与虚拟（技术媒介）情境中的差异。

研究使用了哪些实验设计来检验有魅力型领导的效果？

文中开展了三项研究：两项实验由参与者在接受有魅力或非有魅力领导的指导后完成任务；第三项研究让参与者观看领导视频并通过问卷作答。

有魅力型领导在面对面与虚拟场景中的结果有何不同？

研究显示，有魅力型领导能在面对面情境中提升下属任务绩效（Study 1），但在虚拟情境中效果不显著（Study 2）。

除绩效外，研究还考察了哪些变量？

第三项研究通过问卷考察了参与者对领导者的感知，包括原型性（prototypicality）、能力（competence）与影响力（influencing ability）等。

Aug 29, 2026

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