| This study identified leader characteristics that may promote followership among adolescents. One hundred ninety-three 12- and 13- year-old males participating in Boy Scouts of America troops took part in the study. Participants evaluated a series of leader scenarios constructed to represent six leadership variables: intimacy, cognitive dissonance, idealized influence, social status, social support, and interpersonal conflict. Following review of each scenario, participants ranked their desire to follow the type of leader represented by that scenario. The scenarios were constructed using a fractional factorial design. Eight orthogonal scenarios were created to test the main effects of these variables. Data were analyzed through multilevel modeling techniques. The hypotheses tested were that positive intimate relationships, low cognitive dissonance, positive idealized influence, positive social status, positive social support, and low interpersonal rivalry would promote greater followership among adolescent peers. All of the null hypotheses were rejected (p < .01). Developing understanding of these criteria has positive ramifications for the youth development movement and practitioners in helping youth to develop into healthy functioning adults. |
