Images in words: Presidential rhetoric, and charisma, and greatness

• 成果类型: Review
• 署名作者: Emrich, CG; Brower, HH; Feldman, JM; Garland, H
• 署名单位: Purdue University System; Purdue University; Butler University; University System of Georgia; Georgia Institute of Technology; University of Delaware
• 刊物名称: ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCE QUARTERLY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0001-8392
• DOI: 10.2307/3094874
• 发表日期: 2001
• 页码: 527-557
• 关键词: Leadership; concreteness; performance; personality; strategies; extension; BIOGRAPHY; STATES; style

摘要

We analyzed two sets of U.S. presidents' speeches to determine whether their propensities to convey images in words were linked to perceptions of their charisma and greatness. As predicted, presidents who engaged in more image-based rhetoric in their inaugural addresses were rated higher in charisma (Study 1). Presidents who engaged in more image-based rhetoric in speeches that historians considered their most significant ones were rated higher in both charisma and greatness (Study 2). Together, these findings suggest that the successful articulation and enactment of a leader's vision may rest on his or her ability to paint followers a verbal picture of what can be accomplished with their help.(.)