Positive and negative words: Their association with leadership talent and effectiveness.

Abstract

Examined the relationship of language patterns (positive and negative words), leadership talent (measured by a structured interview) and effectiveness (assessed using a 360-degree feedback approach) in a sample of 804 high-level executives from a variety of public and private organizations. It was found that the leaders used nearly 4 times as many positive as negative words. However, negative words demonstrated discriminating impact with regard to the assessment of leadership talent and effectiveness, while positive words failed to do so. The results lead to an intuitively surprising inference that word positivity and negativity are independent, not bi-polar, influences. Gender differences were also found: female leaders used fewer negative words, but the unfavorable impact of their negative words on leadership effectiveness perceived by the others was stronger for this group than for the male group. Possible explanations for the small correlations between word categories and leadership performance are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)