Psychologist Lara Engelbert shows that the way people process information from charismatic leaders may not be as straightforward as one might expect. She examined the impact of charisma in a leadership context. In her research she focused on leaders in the climate change and environmentalism context.
Lara Engelbert states: "We often recognize charisma without fully understanding what makes someone charismatic. We find ourselves drawn into their stories, connecting to their visions, sometimes without even realizing it. Charismatic leaders frequently shape the destinies of groups, organizations, and even entire nations. These personalities exert tremendous influence, often through the way they speak and behave. In my research, I set out to understand how charismatic leaders are able to influence thousands - sometimes millions - of followers through what they say."
Across a series of online and lab-based studies, Engelbert and her team found that charismatic leaders reduced people’s memory for climate change information but increased the time participants spent reading messages, especially when the content conflicted with the leader’s environmental mission. Participants also reported feeling more engaged and convinced by messages that included charismatic rhetoric.
These findings suggest that charisma, expressed through specific rhetorical tactics (such as storytelling and using metaphors) and non-verbal behaviors (like gestures and facial expressions), shapes how people attend to and process information from a leader. However, much of the underlying cognitive mechanisms behind these effects remain to be fully understood.
Climate change, wars, pandemics, economic crises: leaders play key roles in these settings and influence outcomes for millions of people. Often, their ability to influence others is not solely rooted in formal authority that is exerted through control over resources, power, or status, but is also driven by an exceptional capacity to persuade through charisma. While not all world leaders are charismatic, many are, and many actively use their charisma to achieve their goals.
Engelbert investigated the fundamental mechanisms behind this soft power of leadership and showed how charismatic individuals alter the way we perceive, interpret, and remember the information they share.