Contextual constraints on prototype generation and their multilevel consequences for leadership perceptions

It has become increasingly evident that no single prototype or style of leadership applies to all situations. In fact, we argue that definitions of leadership depend upon innumerable situational and contextual factors related both to the leader being perceived and to the broader external environment. To date, however, there is no theoretical framework that easily explains how perceivers integrate such a broad range of factors. In the current paper, we first present a model, based on recent advances in cognitive science, that allows for the simultaneous cognitive integration of multiple factors influencing the definition of leadership. We contend that this model can be used to understand both the stability and flexibility that is witnessed in the application of leadership prototypes. The framework is then integrated with the idea of alternative levels of analysis, providing a new perspective on how levels of analysis issues can be explored. Finally, we discuss the practical implications of our framework. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.