Often leadership is determined by the official status of people in a group, but if such status is less clearly demarcated it can be considerably harder.  Research from the University of Chicago suggests that it’s often easier to understand who is in control in crisis or conflict situations than it is to recognize who leads.

The researchers explain that whenever we form social groups, we tend to adopt different roles within those groups, with some people taking on greater control than others, while others show greater leadership capabilities.  Of course, each group is inevitably different, so the researchers focused on the size of the group and social status to examine how groups interact.

Group dynamics

The analysis found that the size of the group has a significant impact on the expectations within each group.  The researchers explain that, for instance, in conflict situations, larger groups tend to have greater strength in numbers, and this helps to ensure they remain in control of whatever situation they encounter.

Variables, such as social hierarchy, play out differently, however, and in these contexts size is less important.  As such, larger groups don’t always take on leadership roles.

“Leadership-based hierarchies often adopt a pyramidal structure, with a numerically smaller group of individuals occupying the highest position,” the authors explain.

In short, smaller groups seem more likely to make decisions and lead, whereas larger groups are more likely to secure resources.  The researchers believe that their findings aptly reflect the way in which social status within groups varies greatly, with size and strength vital components in some situations, and qualities such as leadership and intelligence important in others.

“All the age groups studied admit without variation that size is key to knowing who is in control of a conflict situation,” they say. “But the same does not occur with leadership; it is less intuitive, we see that it is a more difficult concept to understand and that it is learned over time. This happens because the reasons for an individual/group to lead are more subtle.”