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On Faces, Gazes, Votes, and Followers: Evolutionary Psychological and Social Neuroscience Approaches to Leadership

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New Frontiers in Social Neuroscience

Part of the book series: Research and Perspectives in Neurosciences ((NEUROSCIENCE,volume 21))

Abstract

Leadership is arguably one of the most important themes in the social sciences, permeating all aspects of human social affairs, from the Euro zone crisis to the re-election of the first black president in the US. Parallel findings across the biological and social sciences suggest that there are both commonalities and differences between humans and non-humans in leadership and followership. Here I propose a new theory of leadership inspired by an evolutionary perspective and informed by recent findings in evolutionary biology, social and cognitive psychology, and social cognitive neuroscience. I will identify some of the evolved functions, developmental origins, and proximate mechanisms underlying leadership and followership in humans. In addition, I will suggest which aspects of leadership are unique and which are shared with other animals and offer new ways of studying leadership and followership employing psychological and neuroscience methods.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Mark van Vugt

  2. Institute for Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Mark van Vugt

  3. Centre for the Study of Group Processes, University of Kent, Kent, UK

    Mark van Vugt

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  1. Mark van Vugt
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Correspondence to Mark van Vugt .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Psychology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA

    Jean Decety

  2. Fondation IPSEN pour la Recherche Therapeutique, Boulogne Billancourt Cedex, France

    Yves Christen

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van Vugt, M. (2014). On Faces, Gazes, Votes, and Followers: Evolutionary Psychological and Social Neuroscience Approaches to Leadership. In: Decety, J., Christen, Y. (eds) New Frontiers in Social Neuroscience. Research and Perspectives in Neurosciences, vol 21. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02904-7_6

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