March 21, 1996 Contact: Jennifer McNulty (408) 459-2495; mcnulty@ua.ucsc.edu

UC SANTA CRUZ PSYCHOLOGY PROFESSOR TO DISCUSS THE ROLE OF CONFIDENCE AND OPTIMISM IN LEADERSHIP EFFECTIVENESS ON APRIL 9

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANTA CRUZ, CA--What's the secret to successful leadership? Vision? Organization? Speaking style? Try confidence. And optimism.

Those two qualities have a major impact on the effectiveness of leaders, says Martin Chemers, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Chemers will discuss leadership during a talk entitled "Heavy Mettle: The Role of Confidence and Optimism in Leadership Effectiveness." The event will be held on Tuesday, April 9, at 7:30 p.m. in Room A340 of the Earth and Marine Sciences Building at UCSC. The event, which is sponsored by Sigma Xi, is free and open to the public.

"Very little research has approached the question of the emotional aspects of leadership--how belief in one's abilities and optimism about the future affects leadership performance," says Chemers, a social psychologist who specializes in leadership and organizational psychology. Chemers and two colleagues have broadened the field of leadership by studying subjects as varied as ROTC cadets and college basketball teams to learn how a leader's beliefs in his or her abilities affect performance.

"We've found that leaders' confidence in their abilities and optimism about their actions is inspiring to others," says Chemers. "It helps them persevere in the face of difficulty, they set high standards and generate enthusiasm, and they're able to maintain their demeanor in the face of stress. These characteristics are a major part of what makes effective leadership."

Chemers, who is also dean of the Division of Social Sciences at UCSC, came to UCSC in 1995 from Claremont McKenna College, where he collaborated with Susan Murphy, a professor of psychology, and Carl Watson, now a graduate student at the University of Michigan. In addition to the ROTC and basketball studies, the three have studied government workers and are working on studies of Army officers and managers of fast-food franchises. Chemers has also undertaken a major study of the confidence and optimism of first-year students at UCSC.

Sigma Xi is an honor society founded in 1886 with the goals of encouraging original work in science and technology and fostering creative interactions between researchers and society. Parking for the talk is available near the Science Library or at Cowell Student Health Center.

This release is also available on the World Wide Web at UCSC's "Services for Journalists" site (http://www.ucsc.edu/news/journalist.html) or via modem from UC NewsWire (209-244-6971).

Press Releases Home | Search Press Releases | Press Release Archive | Services for Journalists

Maintained by:pioweb@cats.ucsc.edu