Simulated reality: A intersubjective belief in the construct of ‘leadership’-

Abstract

This thesis will investigate the construct of ‘leadership’ from a social constructivism perspective. Which interpretations does this construct have, and does the meanings given to the construct differ from an academician point of view compared to the practical thoughts among people in general? We know this is a topic undergoing constant research, and in the eyes of social constructivism ‘leadership’ can be seen as a construct created in the imagination of social scientists (Michell, 2013). This paper addresses the research question: “Which meanings are appointed to the construct of ‘leadership’ through its definitions, and to what degree does intersubjectivity play a role on its acceptance?” A systematized literature review (Grant and Both, 2009) is conducted, focusing on gathering definitions from the most cited literature on leadership. From the systemized review, 30 definitions on ‘leadership’ were extracted. These definitions gathered shows the diverging meanings given to leadership by academics, however, this is not new findings, referring to Stogdill (1974). We further conducted ten semi-structured interviews on randomly selected people in Oslo. Answers showed that people interpret ‘leadership’ differently. There is also difference between academical definitions and everyday people’s interpretation of the construct. When it comes to the acceptance of social constructs, we conclude that it seems that we have created an intersubjective network which believes in ‘leadership’. Intersubjectivity states that our social reality is created through interactions and a mutual subjective shared agreement towards social phenomenon. It offers further interesting areas of research on the mediating role of intersubjectivity to the acceptant of social constructs.