Overview

By analysing a wide range of empirical research into leadership, this book provides a composite portrait of frequent characteristics, such as personality and demeanour, that influence both the success and popularity of political leaders. Through the lenses of mass psychology and collective behaviour sociology, the author offers fascinating observations on political leadership which reveal a coherent pattern. In our choice of and support for leaders, we still seem to be guided by unconscious or instinctive preferences. Evolutionary psychologists have labelled this ‘CALP’ for ‘Cognitive Ancestral Leadership Prototype’. Length, symmetry, face form, voice pitch, eye blinking and more turn out to play a role – even today - alongside personality and style. Each chapter of the book offers a case study to illustrate these observations, including Barack Obama, Ronald Reagan, Nicolas Sarkozy, and Boris Johnson. This book is accessibly written to appeal to students of politics, psychology and sociology, as well as the wider interested reader. 

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9783319294759

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Reviews

“Van Ginneken has produced a lively, easy to read, and relatively short book packed with data and illustrative vignettes. Anyone … could read it and understand the message. Many, including those interested in most subfields of psychology, political science, sociology, history, and a range of humanities, would enjoy this work. It is highly relevant to most of us as individuals, because it talks about human factors that we are keenly or at least vaguely aware of about ourselves … .” (Edward Cumella, PsycCRITIQUES, Vol. 61 (50), December, 2016) 

Van Ginneken has produced a lively, easy to read, and relatively short book packed with data and illustrative vignettes. Anyone ... could read it and understand the message. Many, including those interested in most subfields of psychology, political science, sociology, history, and a range of humanities, would enjoy this work. It is highly relevant to most of us as individuals, because it talks about human factors that we are keenly or at least vaguely aware of about ourselves ... . (Edward Cumella, PsycCRITIQUES, Vol. 61 (50), December, 2016)

Author Information

Jaap van Ginneken is Former Associate Professor of Communication Science at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He has extensive experience in media and journalism and is the author of 24 books, 10 in English. His previous book The Psychology of Power was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2014. 

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