The Cognition of Charisma: How Great Leaders Steer the Minds of Followers
Climate change remains one of the most pressing challenges humanity faces today. Effective communication from global leaders is essential for mitigating its impact and inspiring action. Charismatic leaders, in particular, have a unique ability to deliver clear, engaging messages that unite people around a common cause. But how do people process and evaluate these messages when they come from leaders with such strong influence?
Understanding this dynamic is crucial for shaping effective climate communication strategies that foster cooperation—whether in small groups or on a global scale. It also deepens our understanding of the cognitive and neurophysiological mechanisms that underlie effective leadership.
“We know a great deal about the outcomes of leadership—charismatic leaders boost employee performance, enhance organizational success, and inspire those around them. However, we understand far less about the cognitive mechanisms behind these effects. How do leaders capture attention? How do we process their messages? Cognitive science provides powerful tools to explore how people perceive, interpret, and respond to what leaders say.”
Research conducted at the Amsterdam Leadership Lab has revealed a fascinating paradox: charismatic leaders reduce people's memory for crucial climate change facts (Engelbert et al., 2023). Yet, counterintuitively, they also increase attention to information, particularly when it challenges the leader’s broader environmental stance (Engelbert et al., 2025). However, findings on how much time people spend engaging with information have been inconsistent, with some studies failing to detect increased attention at all (Engelbert et al., 2024).
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Engelbert, L. H., van Elk, M., Theeuwes, J., & van Vugt, M. (2025). The influence of charismatic leadership on followers’ attentional processes. The Leadership Quarterly, 101854. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2024.101854
Engelbert, L. H., Van Elk, M., Theeuwes, J., & van Vugt, M. (2024). The Role of Charismatic Leadership Tactics and Inconsistent Messages in Processing and Evaluating Climate Change Information. Collabra: Psychology, 10(1), 121431. https://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.121431
Engelbert, L. H., van Elk, M., Kandrik, M., Theeuwes, J., & van Vugt, M. (2023). The effect of charismatic leaders on followers’ memory, error detection, persuasion and prosocial behavior: A cognitive science approach. The Leadership Quarterly, 34(3), 101656. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2022.101656