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Linguistic Accommodation between Leaders and Followers

Buske, J.A. (2019) Linguistic Accommodation between Leaders and Followers.

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Abstract:Recent research has highlighted the need for studies investigating leaders and followers not only as isolated individuals but as interacting parties. Drawing on the Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT), this study uses the concept of linguistic accommodation, the adaptation of one's linguistic style to become more or less similar towards another person's linguistic style to research leader-follower interactions. Specifically, we investigated the relations of follower-to-follower, follower-to-leader, and leader-to-follower linguistic accommodation with team and leader effectiveness. To that means, a large data set including 75 teams in Dutch public sector staff meetings was acquired. Moreover, we extend recent developments in the measurements of accommodation by proposing a new valid and accurate method to measure linguistic accommodation. As such, this study yielded a new perspective on the interactions between leaders and their followers by applying the CAT to a leadership context. No relationship between accommodation of any aforementioned direction and effectiveness ratings was found, which could be attributed to a general lack of accommodative behaviors. Several explanations for the lack of accommodation were identified and the need for further research on the nature of accommodation as well as its measurement was established.
Item Type:Essay (Bachelor)
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:77 psychology
Programme:Psychology BSc (56604)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/78806
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