The Transformative Power of Aesthemetics

Abstract

This chapter presents a new, arts-based concept for leadership development, called Shibboleth. Effects of the Shibboleth concept were studied in a scientific experiment at Karolinska Institutet in comparison with conventional leadership training. The background, execution, analysis and interpretation of the results are discussed. The two different programs have affected the participants, and consequently their co-workers, in strikingly different ways. The Shibboleth concept seems to counteract poor leadership resulting in a strengthening of the psychosocial and neurobiological resilience processes of their co-workers. The conventional program was observed to have a contrary effect. Based on the empirical findings, the concept of aesthemetics – transformation by virtue of aesthetic, emotion and ethics – is presented and discussed.

People nowadays think that scientists exist to instruct them, poets, musicians, etc. to give them pleasure. The idea that these have something to teach them – that does not occur to them (Ludwig Wittgenstein in Culture and Value.)

The original version of this chapter was revised. An erratum to this chapter can be found at DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-41969-5_5

An erratum to this chapter can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41969-5_5

Appendix A. The Concept of Evaluation

The hypotheses for the study were two fold; one concerned the direct effects of leadership training on the participating leaders, and one concerned the transferred effects of the leaders’ training on their co-workers.

Two concepts for statistical evaluation were chosen to correspond to the two hypotheses, and these were supplemented with a third concept which was based on an “inside” perspective on Shibboleth:

• 1. The concept of Leader responsibility including pro-social responsibility, self-responsibility, and leadership responsibility

• 2. The concept of Psychosocial and biological stress

• 3. The concept of an “inside” perspective on Shibboleth (Fig. 12)

  Fig. 12

  

  Overall structure of the concept of evaluation

The Concept of Leader Responsibility

Leader responsibility incorporates three different kinds of responsibility: pro-social responsibility, self-responsibility and leadership responsibility, which are particularly relevant given the general research question. Each aspect combines cognitive, emotional, motivational and behavioural facets, although with a varying emphasis on each of them. Leader responsibility indicates adaptability, emotional regulation, stress resilience, moral responsibility and motivation for self-improvement, aspects that are also associated with positive health effects. A more detailed description is shown below (Fig. 13).

Fig. 13

The concept of leader responsibility

Pro-Social Responsibility

Pro-social responsibility was measured in terms of Agreeableness (Graziano and Eisenberg 1997). Agreeableness is a complex, adaptive, pro-social disposition that predicts social supportive behaviour and an in-depth understanding of other people (their thoughts, emotions and motives and their circumstances and acts). Both narcissism (Kovacs 2011) and psychopathy (Jakobwitz and Egan 2006) have a strong negative correlation with Agreeableness, while altruism, empathy, compassion, consideration, humility and cooperation are all hallmarks of Agreeableness.

Self-Responsibility

Self-responsibility was measured in terms of:

Sense of Coherence (SOC)

a strong predictor of psychological resilience. The salutogenic concept SOC (Antonovsky 1987) is defined as a global orientation that expresses the extent to which one has a pervasive, enduring though dynamic feeling of confidence that the world is comprehensive, manageable and meaningful. SOC refers to an adaptive disposition that predicts ability to achieve a deeper understanding of oneself, one’s own circumstances and one’s place in the world. It predicts motivation and emotional readiness to take responsibility and to deal with stressful and demanding life experiences using a variety of strategies, which, in turn, leads to new understanding. Moreover, it also predicts a feeling of meaningfulness, a sense of the importance and value of life events and a conviction that these are worthy of investment and engagement.

Self-Awareness

a predictor of humility and self-improvement. Comparisons between self-evaluation and the evaluative feedback of others (here co-workers) may identify discrepancies between self-perception and the actual reality as perceived by others. The “self-other rating agreement” (SOA) (Atwater and Yammarino 1997) is proposed as an indicator of self-awareness. The SOA defines self-awareness as the degree of congruence between a leader’s self-ratings and other people’s ratings of the leaders – the greater the agreement, the greater the self-awareness. Numerous researchers have emphasized the significance of self-awareness for the achievement of self-regulation and self-improvement (Avolio and Gardner 2005; Gardner et al. 2005).

Leadership Responsibility

Leadership responsibility manifested in behaviours was measured in terms of:

Laissez-Faire Leadership

Laissez-faire leadership (Bass and Stogdill 1990) is a strong predictor of leadership responsibility (inverted), defined as the avoidance of leadership duties and responsibilities. Leaders exhibit indifference or a kind of cowardice, avoiding taking a stand in difficult and important questions, avoiding making necessary decisions or avoiding taking responsibility for decisions. This also means a lack of supportive leadership; no attempt is made to motivate subordinates, or to recognize and satisfy their needs.

Capacity to Cope with Stress

Capacity to Cope with Stress, a predictor of resilience to stress, has two aspects. The first is problem-focussed coping, which involves addressing the problem that causes distress and includes the ability to grasp new information at times of stress, to take an overview of ambiguous situations and to handle several different issues simultaneously (keeping a lot of balls in the air). The second is an emotion-focussed coping skill, which aims at ameliorating the negative emotions associated with the problem.

The Concept of Psychosocial and Biological Stress-Related Health

Psychosocial and biological stress-related health incorporates five aspects of psychosocial responses to stress and two aspects of biological stress. These variables, of which some have been identified as correlating with a poor leadership style, seem to be of particular importance in the light of our general research question (Fig. 14).

Fig. 14

The concept of psychosocial and biological stress-related health

Performance-Based Self-Esteem

Performance-based self-esteem (Hallsten et al. 2005) refers to a type of contingent self-worth where self-esteem is primarily built on accomplishments and “doing” rather than on “being”. Performance-based self-esteem constitutes a vulnerability factor for high-level psychological strain and distress and can be correlated with emotional exhaustion and a depressive mood. Research has shown that the relationship between work stressors and distress is almost entirely mediated through self-esteem (Cole et al. 2001). It can be assumed that the way leaders act towards employees may be critical for the employees’ sense of self-esteem.

Covert Coping

Covert coping is an indicator of patterns of avoidance in the work environment when facing injustice occurring when one does not show the “aggressor” that one feels unfairly treated (Leineweber et al. 2011). According to Harburg et al. (1973) covert coping refers “to a strategy of walking away from the conflict, dealing with it indirectly and introvertly”. There is evidence to show that covert coping is related to signs of coronary heart disease and a risk of future heart attacks or heart-related death, high blood pressure, as well as to increased rates of sickness absence (Leineweber et al. 2011).

Poor Mental Health

Emotional Exhaustion

is considered to be the most essential aspect of burnout and has also been found to be the aspect most strongly related to long-term psychosocial work stress (Maslach and Jackson 1981). Several studies have reported a link between leadership and employee burnout/emotional exhaustion (Hetland et al. 2007; Melchior et al. 1997; Nyberg et al. 2005).

Sleep Disturbance

arises easily and is among the first symptoms to become apparent when people are exposed to long-term psychosocial stress. Sleep disturbance results in a lack of recovery and energy restoration (Kecklund and Åkerstedt 2004). Impaired sleep is thus an important link between long-term stress and increased stress-related adverse health (Lennartsson 2013).

Depressive Symptoms

are regarded as a serious mental consequence of problematic psychosocially-problematic work environments particularly when there are disturbed social relationships. There is scientific evidence that long-term psychosocial stress may play a significant role in the development of depression (Siegrist 2008). It can be assumed that the leaders’ attitudes and behaviours may potentially be critical in the development of depressive symptoms among employees.

Biological Resilience Predictors

We utilized anabolic as well as catabolic hormones as neurobiological predictors of work related psychosocial stress. The consequences of long-term psychosocial stress have been shown to influence both cortisol and DHEA-S. DHEA-S and cortisol could be used as markers of regenerative and protective (anabolic) activity. According to the hypothesis the secretion of both cortisol and DHEA-S was expected to develop in a beneficial way as a result of the Shibboleth intervention.

The Concept of an Inside Perspective on Shibboleth

Individual diaries were collected after each Shibboleth session, reflecting the psychological processes induced in the leaders over the entire training program and the meaning the Shibboleth experiences had for the leaders. An “inside” perspective reveals what statistical analyses cannot, namely the necessary key characteristics that constitute the core of Shibboleths’ impact. Individual diaries were supplemented with “course” evaluations and interviews conducted at 12 months and secondly 9 months later.