Garry McCooey

Professor Robert Wood
Macquarie University, Australia
2025-2026 University of St Andrews Global Fellows.
St Andrews University Business School

Leadership studies typically use fixed measures of people and situations in between person analyses and base inferences about leadership behaviour on relationships between group level means. There are many limitations to this approach; group means may not be representative of many group members, group level relations may differ from the same relationships at the individual level (Simpson’s paradox), and leadership behaviours and situations are not fixed. Contingency theories of leadership recognize differences in leadership styles and situations but are subject to the same limitations, which may explain the lack of supporting evidence and decline in contingency leadership studies. In the current study, we use the intrapersonal dynamic personality processes approach and the CAPS model (Mischel and Shoda, 1995) to operationalise a leadership signature, an individual unit of knowledge that captures the contingent relationship between self-evaluations and leader identity, calculated using repeated measures over 36 week. The resulting individual level leadership signatures (N= 227) are then used to predict leadership emergence in initially leaderless student dorm groups (N=37). Results show that (a) changes in leader identify ratings are contingent upon self-evaluations of leader performance, (b) there are stable individual differences in leadership signatures, and (c) individual differences in leader identity signatures are related to leader emergence, based on peer ratings. Strength of the leader identity signature relationship is stronger for those with prior leadership experience. We discuss the potential of using leader identity signatures and related contingent constructs as explanatory mechanisms for leader behaviour and resulting outcomes, such as inclusivity and diversity management, as well as the retesting of older contingency theories of leadership.

Professor Robert Wood
Macquarie University, Australia
2025-2026 University of St Andrews Global Fellows
St Andrews University Business School

In many developed countries, the current generation of young adults is the first cohort since WWII whose financial wellbeing will be less than that of their parents. They are also the group most impacted by rising inequality and efforts to combat climate change. A longitudinal, multimethod exploratory study collected data from seventy young Australian adults (18 to 40 years old) over a period of 7 months, which included a significant rise in the cost of living. The results of this exploratory study are the basis for a similar study being planned for Scotland. We investigated several topics. This talk will report results for two of the topics studied; financial adaptation by young adults during the cost-of-living crisis and how young adults navigate the intersection of personal finance and climate-conscious decision-making. The results highlight the importance of operational flexibility for financial resilience, e.g. willingness to utilise available financial resources and products, to change lifestyle and consumption patterns, to find new sources of income, and to change or postpone goals. Personal traits were associated with financial resilience, notably optimism. Young adults care deeply about the environment but feel powerless to make a difference. Despite high interest in green technologies, cost and access remain prohibitive for young adults. Again, personality matters. Future-oriented individuals exhibit significantly more sustainable behaviors, such as lower fuel use, even after controlling for income, location, and environmental attitude. Policy implications and an agenda for further research are discussed.

Professor Robert Wood
Macquarie University, Australia
2025-2026 University of St Andrews Global Fellowship.

The aim of this workshop is to equip students with knowledge of the models and methods for a dynamic approach to the study of individuals in organizations and to identify research questions and opportunities for application of the dynamic approach in your area of interest. The workshop will cover the following topics;

1. Between person approaches to the study of individual and situations in organizational behaviour research.
   • Assumptions, measures and analytical methods.
   • The problem of using nomothetic results to make idiographic inferences.
   • Research opportunities in two key but understudied constructs, agency and development.
2. Social cognitive approaches
   • States versus traits
   • Dynamic personality processes, models and measurement
   • Emerging research evidence
3. Research opportunities
   • Your research topic – key research questions and evidence base
   • Using the Triadic Reciprocal Determinism model (Bandura 1986) to identify research questions and opportunities in your topic
   • Turning the research question into a research project