Effects of emotion recognition and alexithymia on motivation to lead: evidence from Turkey

Abstract

This study considers motivation to lead (MTL) as its focal point and assumes that MTL should be linked to the person's emotionality. The author draws on two partially opposing concepts regarding emotions: emotion recognition and alexithymia. Their effects on MTL are analysed using two data sets, from top managers and senior business administration students. A noteworthy finding is that the statistical structures of emotion recognition, alexithymia and MTL are the same for both groups. Though managers are superior to the students in terms of identifying and expressing their emotions, and are not as externally oriented as the students; they tend to focus more on the negative emotions. The managers are more emotionally proactive in assuming leadership role and consider more strongly that leadership is an honourable duty. The managers’ more extroverted alexithymia factors are found to affect their MTL. Manager MTL’s affective component is linked with their emotionality, and their emotion recognition and externally oriented thinking affect their MTL’s affective component. The students’ MTL is not found to be affected by their emotionality but a decomposition of their MTL uncovers that only social-normative component is affected by their externally oriented thinking and deficiency in identifying their own emotions.