Navigating Uncertainty: Harnessing Social Identity Rhetoric for Effective Change Leadership

• Author / Creator

  Ouyang, Yunzhu

• Leadership is a crucial force in shaping group identity and initiating collective changes within groups, particularly during times of uncertainty. The use of affirmations in rhetoric to convey a clear group identity that reduces uncertain feelings can garner more support for leaders when group members experience heightened uncertainty about self-concept (Gaffney et al., 2019). However, during change initiatives, the employment of affirmational rhetoric may pose a threat to group identity as it conveys the proposed identity unambiguously. In such contexts, negational rhetoric may be a more suitable rhetorical style for leaders to promote collective changes as it conveys the change with less rigidity, alleviating the threat posed to group identity (e.g., Mugny, 1982). The advantage enjoyed by negational rhetoric should be more salient when self-uncertainty is elevated, wherein change-oriented leaders can garner more trust among followers (Rast et al., 2016). Drawing upon the social identity perspectives on leadership (e.g., Hogg, 2001a), the goal of this dissertation is to initiate a line of research that centers around the use of affirmations and negations in leadership rhetoric in constructing a group identity that favors leaders’ visions of change. Three experiments examined the interaction between leader rhetoric and self-uncertainty for a leader advocating for or against a collective change. Study 1 (N = 174) investigated the interactive effect of leader rhetoric and self-uncertainty on leader evaluations for an anti-change leader but failed to replicate the findings in previous research. Study 2 (N = 155) focused on the same interaction for a pro-change leader and provided partial support for the preferential evaluations of a leader using negational rhetoric under high self-uncertainty. Study 3 (N =267) introduced a third predictor variable by incorporating the anti-change and pro-change leader conditions. The results for the anti-change leader also failed to replicate previous findings while the results for the pro-change leader contradicted the findings of Study 2. These conflicting results indicate a need to refine experimental manipulations and test potential moderators in future research.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • leadership
  • social identity
  • uncertainty
  • rhetoric
  • social influence
  • group processes

• Graduation date

  Spring 2024

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Doctor of Philosophy

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-36dq-hf60

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.