Ecology, Culture, and Leadership: Unveiling the Nexus of Evolutionary and Cultural Dynamics
Abstract
Leadership is universal yet strikingly diverse across societies, reflecting complex interplays of ecological pressures and cultural evolution. This talk synthesizes multidisciplinary insights into how ecological factors—ranging from climate and population density to resource availability and pathogen prevalence—shape societal leadership prototypes (CLPs). Drawing from evolutionary psychology and cross-cultural studies, we explore how leadership ideals emerge, persist, and adapt in response to both ancestral and contemporary ecological challenges.
In this talk I propose an integrative framework that bridges cultural and evolutionary paradigms, emphasizing two pivotal mechanisms: evoked culture—adaptive responses to immediate ecological threats—and transmitted culture, which perpetuates leadership ideals across generations even when mismatched to current conditions. For instance, societies exposed to resource scarcity or high pathogen prevalence tend to prioritize authoritarian and self-protective leadership, whereas stable, resource-abundant ecologies favor participative and team-oriented leadership models. These findings are supported by cross-societal data from large-scale studies such as GLOBE, alongside anthropological and behavioral evidence from small-scale societies.
Furthermore,I will address the implications of mismatched leadership prototypes in a rapidly changing global landscape, particularly as ecological pressures intensify and cultural transmission accelerates. This integration highlights critical opportunities for leadership research and practice, offering a nuanced understanding of how ecological predictors can inform leadership development in diverse organizational and societal contexts.
Join me to uncover how the fusion of evolutionary and cultural perspectives can deepen our understanding of leadership variation across the globe, providing actionable insights for fostering leadership that is both ecologically informed and culturally resonant in the 21st century.
References:
Lonati, S., & Van Vugt, M. (2024). Ecology, culture and leadership: Theoretical integration and review. The Leadership Quarterly, 35
Sheng, X., Andrews, W., & van Vugt, M. (2024). Male-biased sex ratios increase the support for a strong leader: An evolutionary threat management perspective. Current Research in Ecological and Social Psychology, 6, 100175.
Speaker Biography
Mark van Vugt is Professor of Evolutionary psychology, Work and Organizational psychology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the Director of the Amsterdam Leadership Lab. He is also a research fellow at the University of Oxford. His research explores psychological processes in workplace and organizational settings through an evolutionary lens, with a focus on leadership, power, status, conflict, and cooperation. He integrates insights from psychology, cognitive neuroscience, economics, and evolutionary biology to study these topics. Beyond his academic research, Mark is passionate about applying behavioral science to contemporary organizational challenges, including digitalization and inclusive leadership.
He has published over 200 scientific articles in top-tier journals such as Nature, Current Biology, Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Psychological Science, American Psychologist, and Academy of Management Review.
Mark is a former editor of Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and currently serves as a senior editor at The Leadership Quarterly. He has authored several books for both academic and general audiences, including Naturally Selected: The Evolutionary Science of Leadership, Mismatch: How our Stone Age Brains Deceive Us Daily, and, most recently, FC Sapiens, which explores the connections between football and war.
His work has been recognized with numerous research grants from national and international funding bodies, including a major EU Horizon Europe grant on mental health in the workplace. He is a frequent contributor to national and international media and has received multiple awards for his contributions to science and science communication, including recent honours from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the Academy of Management for his lifetime academic achievements.