In the News: A Professor Deconstructs Our Attraction To Tyrannical Leaders

January 18, 2023 | Hamilton, ON
Contributed by Mark Travers, Forbes

A new study published in the Journal of Business Ethics explains why we like our leaders to be rough and ruthless. This instinct, according to lead author Agata Mirowska, is informed by cultural, religious, societal, and familial factors.

The study, undertaken by Mirowska with Raymond Chiu and Rick Hackett, identified seven adjectives that describe tyrannical leaders. They are:

  1. Domineering
  2. Pushy
  3. Dominant
  4. Manipulative
  5. Conceited
  6. Selfish
  7. Loud

Read the full article in Forbes.

Rick D. Hackett

Rick Hackett

Professor
Human Resources and Management

Dr. Rick Hackett is a Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Organizational Behaviour and Human Performance, and Fellow of the Canadian Psychological Association. He specializes in executive/managerial assessment, leadership, HR recruitment, testing, selection, work attitudes, absenteeism and performance assessment.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comment Policy

We generally welcome discussion on our blog posts. However, we reserve the right to edit or delete comments in certain situations:

  • Comments which include unrelated or suspicious links or messages (spam).
  • Comments which are off topic.
  • Comments which attack or threaten individuals or a group of people.
  • Comments which include profanity or messages that would generally be considered offensive or inappropriate by the McMaster community.

This site is moderated by the DeGroote Marketing and Communications team. If you have any questions please email Katie Almas.