‘Self-regulatory focus theory’ and leadership
Self-regulatory focus theory
People’s focus is to approach pleasure or avoid pain
Promotion goals focus on
Prevention goals emphasise avoiding punishment
Factors that affect people’s focus
The Chronic Factor
• comes from one’s
The factor
• we are more likely to focus on promotion goals when with a
• we are more likely to focus on prevention goals with our boss
How people’s focus affects them
Promotion Focus: People think about an ideal version of themselves, their and their gains.
Prevention Focus: People think about their ‘ought’ self and their obligations
Leaders
Leadership behaviour and affects people’s focus
Transformational Leaders:
• pay special attention to the of their followers
• passionately communicate a clear
• inspire promotion focus in followers
Transactional Leaders:
• create to make expectations clear
• emphasise the results of a mistake
• inspire prevention focus in followers
Conclusion
Promotion Focus is good for jobs requiring
Prevention Focus is good for work such as a surgeon Leaders’ actions affect which focus people use.
