Charisma

Definition

The word charisma (from the Greek word χάρισμα (kharisma), "gift" or "divine favor," from kharizesthai, "to favor," from kharis, "favor") refers to a rare trait found in certain human personalities usually including extreme charm and a "magnetic" quality of personality and/or appearance along with innate and powerfully sophisticated personal communicability and persuasiveness; in short, charisma is often used to describe a seemingly uncanny ability to charm or influence people. It refers especially to a quality in certain people who easily draw the attention and admiration (or even hatred if the charisma is negative) of others due to a "magnetic" quality of personality and/or appearance. Though the term as it stands is extremely difficult to define, other similar terms/phrases related to charisma include: grace, exuberance, equanimity, mystique, positive energy, "right stuff," joie de vivre, charm, personal magnetism, personal appeal, "electricity," and allure, among many others. Another term constantly used is the "X-factor". Usually many of these qualities must be present within a single individual for the person to be considered highly charismatic by the public and their peers.

Charismatic individuals generally project unusual confidence, calmness, assertiveness, authenticity, and focus, along with superb communication skills. To the early Greeks, charisma was said to be "a divine favor/gift" or "gift of grace," implying that this "divine quality" was an inborn trait; today however, many believe it can be taught and/or learned despite the persistent inability to accurately define or even fully understand it.

The psychology of charisma

The study, recognition, and development of charisma in individuals is of particular interest to sociologists/psychologists, popular (usually national) politicians, public speakers, actors, movie-stars/movie-producers, casting directors, pop-music stars, trainers/coaches targeting the upper-echelons of the business community (CEOs), and academics or others involved in leadership studies or leadership development, among others.

In some cases highly-extroverted and brutally controlling charismatic leaders have used their personal charisma in extremely destructive and damaging ways throughout human history, for example, Adolf Hitler and Jim Jones.

The German sociologist Max Weber defined charismatic authority to be one of three forms of authority, the other two being traditional (feudal) authority and legal or rational authority. According to Weber, charisma is defined thusly:

a certain quality of an individual personality, by virtue of which s/he is "set apart" from ordinary people and treated as endowed with supernatural, superhuman, or at least specifically exceptional powers or qualities. These as such are not accessible to the ordinary person, but are regarded as divine in origin or as exemplary, and on the basis of them the individual concerned is treated as a leader.

Pierre Bourdieu did not have a very different position from that of Weber's, but he stressed that a leader has charisma only if other people accept that s/he has it. Bourdieu argued that charisma usually depends on an "inaugural act" such as a decisive battle or moving speech after which the charismatic person will be regarded as such.

Charisma has also been studied as a set of behaviors/traits; for example, a modern psychological approach posits that charisma is basically aggregative, a conglomeration of distinct personality traits that meld well in certain individuals to form the broad quality known as charisma. Theatrically, charisma can actually be performed on-stage and in films, and is encapsulated in verbal and non-verbal communication.

Professor Richard Wiseman says that a charismatic person has three attributes:

1. they feel emotions themselves quite strongly;
2. they induce them in others;
3. and they are impervious to the influences of other charismatic people.

Charismatic Authority

Jesus is considered by many to be an example of a charismatic religious leader

The sociologist Max Weber defined charismatic authority as "resting on devotion to the exceptional sanctity, heroism or exemplary character of an individual person, and of the normative patterns or order revealed or ordained by him." Charismatic authority is one of three forms of authority laid out in Weber's tripartite classification of authority, the other two being traditional authority and rational-legal authority. The concept has acquired wide usage among sociologists.

Similar terms include "charismatic domination" , or "charismatic leadership."

Characteristics

In his writings about charismatic authority, Weber applies the term charisma to "a certain quality of an individual personality, by virtue of which he is set apart from ordinary men and treated as endowed with supernatural, superhuman, or at least specifically exceptional powers or qualities. These are such as are not accessible to the ordinary person, but are regarded as of divine origin or as exemplary, and on the basis of them the individual concerned is treated as a leader [...] How the quality in question would be ultimately judged from an ethical, aesthetic, or other such point of view is naturally indifferent for the purpose of definition."

Charismatic authority is 'power legitimized on the basis of a leader's exceptional personal qualities or the demonstration of extraordinary insight and accomplishment, which inspire loyalty and obedience from followers' . As such, it rests almost entirely on the leader; the absence of that leader for any reason can lead to the authority's power dissolving. However, due to its idiosyncratic nature and lack of formal organization, charismatic authority depends much more strongly on the perceived legitimacy of the authority than Weber’s other forms of authority. For instance, a charismatic leader in a religious context might require an unchallenged belief that the leader has been touched by God, in the sense of a guru or prophet. [1] Should the strength of this belief fade, the power of the charismatic leader can fade quickly, which is one of the ways in which this form of authority shows itself to be unstable. In contrast to the current popular use of the term charismatic leader, Weber saw charismatic authority not so much as character traits of the charismatic leader but as a relationship between the leader and his followers — much in the same way that Freud would transform Gustave Le Bon's crowd psychology through the notion of identification and of an Ideal of the Ego. The validity of charism is founded on its "recognition" by the leader's followers (or "adepts" - Anhänger). This recognition "is not (in authentic charism) the grounds of legitimity, but a duty, for those who are chosen, in virtue of this call and of its confirmation, to recognize this quality. "Recognition" which is, psychologically, a completely personal abandon, full of faith, born either from enthusiasm or from necessity and hope. No prophet has seen his quality as depending from the crowd's opinion towards himself", although his charisme risks disappearing if he is "abandoned by God" or if "his government doesn't provide any prosperity to those whom he dominates".

Note that according to Weber, a charismatic leader does not have to be a positive force; thus, both Winston Churchill and Adolf Hitler could be reasonably considered charismatic leaders. Furthermore, sociology is axiologically neutral (Wertfreie Soziologie) towards various forms of charismatic domination: it does not makes difference between the charisma of a Berserker, of a shaman, of the founder of Mormonism or of the one displayed by Kurt Eisner. For Weber, sociology considers these types of charismatic dominatione in "an identical manner than the charisma of heros, prophets, the "greatest" saviours according to common appreciation".

Routinizing charisma

Charismatic authority almost always evolves in the context of examples of traditional or rational-legal authority which provide forms and boundaries, but by its nature tends to challenge currently accepted forms of authority and thus is often seen as revolutionary. [2] However, the constant challenge that charismatic authority presents to older forms of authority must eventually either subside or be incorporated into the society. The way in which this happens is called routinization.

Routinization is the process by which ‘charismatic authority is succeeded by a bureaucracy controlled by a rationally established authority or by a combination of traditional and bureaucratic authority’ (Turney, Beeghley, and Powers, 1995 cited in Kendal et al. 2000). For example, Muhammad, who had charismatic authority as "The Prophet" among his followers, was succeeded by the traditional authority and structure of Islam, a clear example of routinization.

Some leaders may employ various tools to create and extend their charismatic authority, for example utilizing the science of public relations.

As in the example of Islam, a religion which evolves its own priesthood and establishes a set of laws and rules is likely to lose its charismatic character and move towards another type of authority upon the removal of that leader.

In politics, charismatic rule is often found in various authoritarian states, autocracies, dictatorships and theocracies. In order to help to maintain their charismatic authority, such regimes will often establish a vast personality cult, which can be seen as an attempt to lend legitimacy by an appeal to other forms of authority. When the leader of such a state dies or leaves office and a new charismatic leader does not appear, such regime is likely to fall shortly afterwards if it is unable to survive without the personal attraction of the ruler, or it may become routinized as described above.

Application of Weber's theories

Weber’s model of charismatic leadership giving way to institutionalization is endorsed by several academic sociologists, such as Eileen Barker. Barker discusses that in new religious movements there is often a founder or leader who wields charismatic authority and who is believed to have some special powers or knowledge. She asserts that almost by definition, charismatic leaders are unpredictable, for they are not bound tradition or rules. Such leaders may be accorded by the followers the right to pronounce on all aspects of their lives. In those cases, Barker asserts a warning when the leader lacks any accountability and there is an authority structure requiring unquestioning obedience and encouraging a growing dependency upon the movement for material, spiritual and social resources. . George D. Chryssides asserts that not all new religious movements have charismatic leaders, and that there are differences in the hegemonic styles among those movements that do.

Len Oakes, an Australian psychologist who wrote a dissertation about charisma, asserts that criticisms of Weber's theory have led to significant modification of some aspects, but not its main concepts, had eleven charismatic leaders to fill in a psychometric test, which he called the adjective checklist and found them as a group quite ordinary. Following the psychoanalyst Heinz Kohut, Oakes argues that charismatic leaders exhibit traits of narcissism and also argues that they display an extraordinary amount of energy, accompanied by an inner clarity unhindered by the anxieties and guilt that afflict more ordinary people. He did however not fully follow Weber's framework of charismatic authority.

References and external links

• The 'It' Factor from the LA Times
• Charm, Graciousness — and Attitude from the LA Times
• The X-Factors of Success from Psychology Today
• The Character of Charisma from whyfiles.org, a 4 part series
• Max Weber and Charisma
• Charismatic Authority from about.com
• Why Charisma Matters from Tony Alessandra Ph.D.
• Charisma from vocalist.org
• Charisma FAQ
• Charisma by Thomas Robbin in the Encyclopedia of Religion and Society, edited by William H. Swatos: ISBN 0-7619-8956-0
• Toward a Theory of the Routinization of Charisma — April 1972
• Charisma by Thomas Robbin in the Encyclopedia of Religion and Society edited by William H. Swatos (February 1998) ISBN 0-7619-8956-0
• Charismatic Authority: Emotional Bonds Between Leaders and Followers
• Weber links

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