The roles of character and charisma in evaluating leadership: Effects of dark triad and honesty-humility traits, attributed charisma, and COVID-19 crisis anxiety in rejecting a presidential leadership candidate

Abstract

The 2020 U.S. presidential election provided an opportunity to study follower reactions to an incumbent leader (former President Trump) versus a challenger (Joe Biden) during a crisis. Results suggest that follower perceptions of character and charisma influence the likelihood of rejecting a candidate. Perceptions of the bright character trait honesty-humility positively influenced attributed charisma and negatively influenced leader rejection, while the dark triad traits negatively influenced charisma and positively influenced rejection. While traits were found to have indirect effects on rejection through charisma, character and charisma were important for the incumbent while charisma was more important for the challenger. COVID-19 crisis anxiety moderated the negative relationship between charisma and leader rejection for the incumbent – increasing the likelihood of rejection. Implications for research examining character and charisma during a crisis are discussed.