title: Leadership as an Emergent Feature in Social Organizations: Insights from A Laboratory Simulation Experiment.
abstract: Recent theoretical contributions have suggested a theory of leadership that is grounded in complexity theory, hence regarding leadership as a complex process (i.e., nonlinear; emergent). This article tests if complexity leadership theory promotes efficiency in work groups. 40 groups of five participants each had to complete four decision making tasks using the city simulation game SimCity4. Before engaging in the four decision making tasks, participants received information regarding what sort of leadership behaviors were more adequate to help them perform better. Results suggest that if complexity leadership theory is applied, groups can achieve higher efficiency over time, when compared with other groups where complexity leadership is not applied. This study goes beyond traditional views of leadership as a centralized form of control, and presents new evidence suggesting that leadership is a collective and emergent phenomenon, anchored in simple rules of behavior.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigação em Ciência Psicológica, Faculdade de Psicologia, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Luis
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7730-7877
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Curral
authors.affiliation: William James Center for Research, ISPA-IU, Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Marques-Quinteiro
authors.affiliation: Centro de Administração e Políticas Públicas, Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Catarina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gomes
authors.affiliation: Institut für Physik, Universität Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany.
authors.forename: Pedro G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Lind
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D005716:Game Theory; D006801:Humans; D007753:Laboratories; D007857:Leadership; D008297:Male; D017146:Models, Organizational; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011340:Problem Solving; D055815:Young Adult