ABSTRACT
The importance of self and identity development to healthy adjustment across the lifespan is supported by the theoretical as well as the empirical literature (Leary & Tangney, 2003). Additionally, this area is recently receiving growing attention in the leadership literature (see van Knippenberg, van Knippenberg, DeCremer, & Hogg, 2004 for a review). As mentioned in our earlier chapter on identity development (Chapter 5), one’s identity is a multifaceted and dynamic composite of attributes, values, knowledge, experiences, and self-perceptions (Baltes & Carstensen, 1991). Individuals may possess sub-identities for various social roles they hold, or even identities about future desired or ideal selves (Cross & Markus, 1991). Identities can vary in salience, centrality, and the extent to which they are integrated with other sub-identities. A leader identity, in this sense, is an identity or sub-identity that an individual holds regarding his or her role as a leader.
