Boas Shamir (1992) suggests that charismatic leadership has its effect by heightening self-esteem and self-worth, which leads to increased self-efficacy and collective efficacy, a personal identification with the leader, and identification with a prestigious and distinctive social group, and an internalisation of the values of the leader.
In order to research charismatic leadership, one needs to view it as a function of the whole situation. It is leader identity, behaviour, follower identity, sociocultural context and organisational setting all working together concurrently.
References
- Shamir, B. (1992). Attribution of Influence and Charisma to the Leader: The Romance of Leadership Revisited1. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 22(5), pp.386–407. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.1992.tb01546.x.