Prestige strategy → Leadership effectiveness
If people follow you because you are worth copying, the group gets coordination without fear. That is a different hormone story.
Theory · Moderate
Supported by an experiment or a tightly identified design. Still read the caveats.
Mechanism
Henrich and Gil-White (2001): prestige is an adaptation for cultural learning. Leaders who hold rank by skill should show different contest dynamics than leaders who hold rank by threat. Dual-hormone papers that ignore this split are measuring a mash-up.
Caveats
A theory paper, not a field experiment on CEOs. Included because the missing construct is the error in the folk model.
Effect
qualitative. In knowledge groups, prestige should beat dominance as a leadership technology.
Nodes
Named confounders
Cite this page
What Causes What. “Prestige strategy → Leadership effectiveness.” https://whatcauseswhat.org/edges/e-prestige-leadership (atlas updated 2026-08-31).
Papers
- The evolution of prestige: Freely conferred deference as a mechanism for enhancing the benefits of cultural transmission
J. Henrich, F. J. Gil-White · 2001 · Evolution and Human Behavior