ABSTRACT
In this chapter we present a comprehensive and explicit theory of leadership perceptions that is derived from recent work in the social-cognitive area. This approach provides a more detailed view of leadership perceptions than work that typically focuses on the traits distinguishing leaders from nonleaders. We begin this chapter by examining trait views of leadership, showing how the emphasis has shifted from traits of leaders to leadership as a summary label used by perceivers. We then explain how these summary labels are formed from both recognition-based and inferential processes. In this theoretical model, recognition-based processes are analyzed in terms of categorization theory and inferential processes are tied to attributions about salient events. We assert that both these perceptual processes can involve either automatic or controlled modes of processing. Recognition-based processing is the topic of this chapter; inferential processing is covered in chapter 4.
