Needs, identity, and leadership: a theory of conflict and change

Need (Psychology);Group identity;Ideology;Leadership;Collective behavior;Sudan--History--20th century;Former Yugoslav republics--History--20th century;International relations--Psychological aspects

Finne, Nea ; Murer, Jeffrey Stevenson ; Murer, Jeffrey Stevenson

University:University of St Andrews

Department:International Relations (School of)

关键词: Need (Psychology);    Group identity;    Ideology;    Leadership;    Collective behavior;    Sudan--History--20th century;    Former Yugoslav republics--History--20th century;    International relations--Psychological aspects;   

Others  :  https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/10023/3592/NeaFinnePhDThesis.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y

来源: DR-NTU

【 摘 要 】

This PhD dissertation aims to inform theories of conflict and International Relations (IR) by using modified social psychological models of identification and leadership in which needs fulfilment plays a central role. The main hypothesis is that identification with groups and leaders is flexible on the lower needs levels and more lasting on the higher needs levels, and that leadership, to be adaptive, must on the lower needs levels be action-oriented and on the higher levels be relations-oriented. This hypothesis is used to inform group and system level theories. On the group level, the hypothesis reads that due to this pattern of individual identification, cohesive collective action and violence inphysiological deprivation requires coercive leadership to make up for the absence ofunity, while on the higher needs levels collective violence necessitates manipulativeleadership to make up for the absence of real deprivation. On the system level, thehypothesis reads that since the dynamics of collective action depend on the level ofneeds fulfilment and identification, change in the system can only be understood byexamining all three levels of analysis. The first two hypotheses (on the individual andgroup level) are developed and demonstrated through qualitative case studies on theconflicts of the Sudan/South Sudan and between the former Yugoslav republics. Thesehypotheses are then used to reconcile the various conflicting theories on each level ofanalysis as well as to create a comprehensive framework through which the various theories and concepts of IR can be seen as connected to a certain level of needs security/development, and thus as historically and regionally specific.