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Learning What Leadership Is: A Qualitative Study into the Construction of Implicit Leadership Theories in Children.

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Title: Learning What Leadership Is: A Qualitative Study into the Construction of Implicit Leadership Theories in Children.
Authors: Escobar Vega, Claudia (AUTHOR), Billsberry, Jon (AUTHOR), Molineux, John (AUTHOR)
Source: Journal of Constructivist Psychology. Jul-Sep2026, Vol. 39 Issue 3, p397-423. 27p.
Subjects: Leadership, Cognitive development, Thematic analysis, School children, Qualitative research, Cognitive structures
Abstract: Implicit leadership theories (ILTs) occupy a central position in socially constructed approaches to leadership. To date, most research into ILTs has focused on how they present in adults and relatively little research has looked at their development in children, which is an important omission because it is during this early period when future adult conceptualizations of leadership are formed. A qualitative investigation was conducted into the nature of children's ILTs with the goal of integrating previous findings into robust theory about the combination of cognitive dimensions through which children's conceptualizations of leadership emerge and develop. Drawings of "leader's leading" were gathered and interviews conducted with 251 Australian 5–12-years-olds (52% female, 93% Australian born). Employing thematic analysis, we broke down children's answers into individual ideas about what constitutes a leader. A code book containing deductive theoretical and inductive emergent codes was compiled and used by the authors to understand the data. The data shows that children's ILTs wax and wane across four cognitive approaches (i.e., functional, physical, relational, and humanitarian) and that these results align with Siegler's overlapping waves theory. Based on this finding, theory is built for future empirical studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of Constructivist Psychology is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
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  Data: Learning What Leadership Is: A Qualitative Study into the Construction of Implicit Leadership Theories in Children.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Escobar+Vega%2C+Claudia%22">Escobar Vega, Claudia</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Billsberry%2C+Jon%22">Billsberry, Jon</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Molineux%2C+John%22">Molineux, John</searchLink> (AUTHOR)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Constructivist+Psychology%22">Journal of Constructivist Psychology</searchLink>. Jul-Sep2026, Vol. 39 Issue 3, p397-423. 27p.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Leadership%22">Leadership</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cognitive+development%22">Cognitive development</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Thematic+analysis%22">Thematic analysis</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22School+children%22">School children</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Qualitative+research%22">Qualitative research</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cognitive+structures%22">Cognitive structures</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: Implicit leadership theories (ILTs) occupy a central position in socially constructed approaches to leadership. To date, most research into ILTs has focused on how they present in adults and relatively little research has looked at their development in children, which is an important omission because it is during this early period when future adult conceptualizations of leadership are formed. A qualitative investigation was conducted into the nature of children's ILTs with the goal of integrating previous findings into robust theory about the combination of cognitive dimensions through which children's conceptualizations of leadership emerge and develop. Drawings of "leader's leading" were gathered and interviews conducted with 251 Australian 5–12-years-olds (52% female, 93% Australian born). Employing thematic analysis, we broke down children's answers into individual ideas about what constitutes a leader. A code book containing deductive theoretical and inductive emergent codes was compiled and used by the authors to understand the data. The data shows that children's ILTs wax and wane across four cognitive approaches (i.e., functional, physical, relational, and humanitarian) and that these results align with Siegler's overlapping waves theory. Based on this finding, theory is built for future empirical studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Constructivist Psychology is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1080/10720537.2025.2541778
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 27
        StartPage: 397
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Leadership
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Cognitive development
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Thematic analysis
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: School children
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      – SubjectFull: Qualitative research
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      – SubjectFull: Cognitive structures
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      – TitleFull: Learning What Leadership Is: A Qualitative Study into the Construction of Implicit Leadership Theories in Children.
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            NameFull: Escobar Vega, Claudia
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            NameFull: Billsberry, Jon
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            NameFull: Molineux, John
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            – D: 01
              M: 07
              Text: Jul-Sep2026
              Type: published
              Y: 2026
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