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Personality test development flourished in the years between World Wars I and II. The number and type of
115 personality attributes which were investigated spanned a wide range including intelligence, dominance,
aggressiveness, masculinity, perceptiveness, scholarship, fluency of speech, judgment, decision-making
ability, insight, and physical characteristics such as weight, height, energy, health, physique, athletic
ability, and grooming.
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1l. In general, the findings were disappointing. Scogdill (1948) reviewed the literature and, in effect,
gave this line of study the coup de grace, even though the search for leadership traits still continues on a
very limited scale. It must he said, however, that some relationships between leadership attributes and
125 leadership status were found. While the relationships were very weak, it may be worthwhile to report what
evidence there is.
12. Since many findings were contradictory, Stogdill assessed the strength of various findings on the
basis of the number of studies which reported similar findings. Two major conclusions were reached based
130 on the existence of positive results from at least 15 studies:
«(a) The average person who occupies a position of leadership exceeds the average member of his group
in...(l) intelligence, (2) scholarship, (3) dependability in exercising responsibilities, (4) activity and social
135 participation, and (5) socioeconomic status.
«(b) The qualities, characteristics, and skills required in a leader are determined to a large extent by the
demands of the situation in which he is to function as a leader» (p. 63).
Positive evidence from 10 or more of the studies showed:
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«The average person who occupies a position of leadership exceeds the average member of his group to
some degree in the following respects: (i) sociability, (ii) persistence, (iii) initiative, (iv) knowing how to
145 get things done, (v) self confidence, (vi) alertness to, and insight into, situations, (vii) cooperativeness,
(viii) popularity, (ix) adaptability, and (x) verbal facility» (p.63).
13.It should be stressed, however, that the findings were so tenuous that there is no real hope of using
150 them to identify or to predict leaders in any practical situation. In fact, Stogdill concluded:
«A person does not become a leader by virtue of the possession of some combination of traits, but by
the pattern of personal characteristics, activities, and goals of the followers. Thus, leadership must be
155 conceived in terms of the interaction of variables which are in constant flux and change. The factor of
change is especially characteristic of the situation, which may be radically altered by the addition or loss of
members, changes in interpersonal relationships, changes in goals, competition of extra-group influences,
160 and the like. The personal characteristics of the leader and of the followers are, in comparison, highly
stable. The persistence of individual patterns of human behavior in the face of constant situational change
appears to be a primary obstacle encountered not only in the practice of leadership, but in the selection and
165 placement of leaders....it becomes clear that an adequate analysis of leadership involves not only a study of
leaders, but also of situations».
14. A subsequent review of the leadership literature by R.D. Mann (1959) concluded that'a number of
170 relationships between an individual's personality and his leadership status in groups appeared to'be well
established. In particular, intelligence, adjustment and extroversion are related to leadership status, though
Mann found the relationships to be very low. Even the intelligence score, which has been the most
175 consistent predictor, was only poorly related to leadership performance.
15.The relevance of early studies to current investigations of leadership quickly becomes apparent when
180 we lolok at some popular assumptions about leaders, such as «he is a bom leader», or «a man who can lead
in one situation can lead in another». Similarly, we are constantly exposed to the customs of the business
community and of government in which a man who has been outstanding in a managerial position of one
185 organization is often transferred or hired by another organization. The examples abound. General
Eisenhower was appointed as president of Columbia University even though he had never held a
managerial position in an academic institution. He was subsequently elected president of the United States
190 even though he had never before held political office. General MacArthur was elected chairman of Sperry
Rand Corporation, and during World War II, Gordon Gray, the former president of a railroad, became the
head of the U.S. Veterans Administration. Unfortunately, there are no data which would allow us to keep a