How being rooted in the past can shape the future: The role of social identity continuity in the wish for a strong leader

Why do people support strong leaders? We examined the link between social identity continuity – the sense that a nation’s past, present, and future are interconnected – and the wish for a strong national leader. Drawing on a multi-country data set (Study 1: N = 6112) and a sample from Australia (Study 2: N = 621), Studies 1 and 2 showed that identity continuity was related to increased desire for a strong leader. Studies 3a (UK sample; N = 293) and 3b (US sample; N = 294) further showed that desired (not perceived) identity continuity was related to wish for a strong leader, suggesting that the key ingredient is the desire for continuity regardless of the perceived current levels of continuity. These findings suggest that people may want to preserve their national identity as a link to the past to face present and future challenges, even if it means forgoing democratic leadership.     

Commentary is free: Issue management and gaining capital with thought leadership

Expert commentaries are an avenue in which individuals and the organisations they represent position themselves on issues that are relevant to stakeholders. This paper considers the motivations for writing them, assessing this through two conceptual lenses: issue management and cultural, symbolic and economic capital. By writing an expert commentary an individual manages the way an issue is perceived and in doing so gains either immediate economic capital in the form of payment or symbolic or cultural capital which may in the future be converted into economic capital through increased career opportunities or promotion. We analyse expert commentaries in the Singapore news media and surveys their authors to investigate what prompted them to contribute their articles. We bring together (organisational) thinking on issue management and (individual) thinking on self-promotion as reflected in expert commentaries and suggest lessons for issue management through expert commentary.