CELC Psychology of Leadership 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which concept from Carol Dweck's research most directly impacts how leaders respond to organizational setbacks?
- Locus of control
- Growth mindset (Correct answer)
- Learned optimism
- Self-efficacy
Correct answer: Growth mindset
A growth mindset — the belief that abilities can be developed through effort — determines whether leaders view setbacks as failures or opportunities to learn and improve.
Question 2: A leader consistently attributes team successes to themselves but blames team failures on external factors. This reflects:
- Fundamental attribution error
- Self-serving bias (Correct answer)
- Actor-observer bias
- Confirmation bias
Correct answer: Self-serving bias
Self-serving bias is the tendency to attribute positive outcomes to one's own actions and negative outcomes to external causes, protecting self-esteem.
Question 3: In Maslow's hierarchy, which need level is most relevant to an executive's drive for recognition and status?
- Safety needs
- Belongingness needs
- Esteem needs (Correct answer)
- Self-actualization needs
Correct answer: Esteem needs
Esteem needs include the desire for achievement, mastery, recognition, and respect, which align directly with executive drives for status and acknowledgment.
Question 4: Which leadership shadow dynamic occurs when a leader's unexpressed anger is absorbed and acted out by team members?
- Countertransference
- Projective identification (Correct answer)
- Splitting
- Idealization
Correct answer: Projective identification
Projective identification occurs when a leader unconsciously projects disowned feelings onto others, who then unconsciously enact those feelings on the leader's behalf.
Question 5: Research on emotional contagion in organizations suggests that a leader's mood:
- Has minimal impact on team performance
- Spreads automatically to team members and affects collective outcomes (Correct answer)
- Only affects emotionally sensitive employees
- Is consciously regulated by team members
Correct answer: Spreads automatically to team members and affects collective outcomes
Emotional contagion research shows that leader moods automatically spread to team members through mimicry and physiological synchrony, significantly affecting collective performance.
Question 6: The SCARF model developed by David Rock identifies five social domains that activate threat or reward responses. Which domain relates to fairness?
- Status
- Certainty
- Autonomy
- Fairness (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Fairness
Fairness in the SCARF model refers to the perception of fair exchanges between people, and unfairness activates the same threat response as physical danger.
Question 7: A leader who maintains professional effectiveness while personally disagreeing with a policy demonstrates:
- Emotional suppression
- Values clarification
- Psychological differentiation (Correct answer)
- Cognitive dissonance management
Correct answer: Psychological differentiation
Psychological differentiation is the capacity to maintain a clear sense of self and act according to one's values while remaining engaged with others who hold different views.
CELC Psychology of Leadership 3
Which concept from Carol Dweck's research most directly impacts how leaders respond to organizational setbacks?