Bending The Rules: A Path to Leadership, but at What Cost?

"Among the myriad perplexities of Trump's second term is the question of how his appeal has managed to survive his knack for bending and breaking rules, laws, and social mores and traditions. By common sense and experience, we would expect that people who disobey the rules will tend to experience negative consequences-this, after all, is one reason rules are established in the first place, to guide people's behavior toward cooperation and fairness, thus enabling social functioning."

"The leadership literature has shown that social rank is often obtained via two independent paths. The first is the path of dominance, which refers to "behaviors that rely on force or threat of force to obtain social rank" (Homan et al., 2024). (For example, searching for a leader, members of a team might choose to rally around the loudest, most assertive person.) Leadership roles obtained by dominance are more likely to be imposed and are associated with subordinates' fear and intimidation."

"Rule abiders, benders, and breakers differ in how they are perceived. Rule breakers are seen as high in dominance but low in prestige, which hurts their leadership appeal. Rule benders are perceived as high in both dominance and prestige, and are most likely to be chosen to lead. As rule benders gain leadership, they may eventually bend those rules that serve to uphold the social order."

People can be categorized as rule abiders, rule benders, or rule breakers, and these categories shape perceptions relevant to leadership. Rule breakers are perceived as high in dominance but low in prestige, which diminishes their leadership appeal despite their assertiveness. Rule benders are perceived as high in both dominance and prestige and therefore are most likely to be chosen for leadership roles. Social rank is obtained via dominance (force or threat) or prestige (reputation and achievements). Expectations favor rule followers for promotion, yet exceptions occur when benders capitalize on both pathways. As benders attain leadership, they may erode rules that uphold social order.

Read at Psychology Today