Puppet Masters in the Lab: Experimental Methods in Leadership Research

The use of experimental research methods can be of great benefit to researchers who want to gain more insight into causal relationships in leadership processes. In this chapter, we first explain which experimental paradigms and methods are often used by leadership researchers (e.g., vignette studies, laboratory experiments, field experiments, group experiments) and we provide some examples. Subsequently, we address some unique strengths of these experimental methods. Some specific points we discuss are related to issues of internal validity/testing causal explanations, the opportunity of studying specific underlying processes in isolation, testing possible interventions, testing complex models, and the relatively low time investment needed to conduct some types of experimental research. Notably, experimental methods also have potential pitfalls and we discuss those as well by pointing to the pervasive use of student samples, a general lack of psychological realism/external validity, the use of low-impact manipulations of high-impact situations, and the use of short-term approaches to long-term phenomena. Finally, we present a look to the future of leadership research, highlighting recent developments in experimental leadership methods and pointing out opportunities for further development and refinement of these methods.