Seth Vallee / Psychology / Faculty Mentor: Peter McLemore
In the world of leadership, discussions about how age impacts effectiveness are common, especially in politics where figures like Joe Biden and Donald Trump face regular scrutiny over their ages. Multiple studies have covered whether or not age correlates with leadership effectiveness, but they often explore observable leadership outcomes, yielding conflicting results leaning towards our null hypothesis. Therefore, this study hopes to answer one common question: does age determine leadership prowess? Using an analysis of leader age and performance in popular movies, we set out to uncover whether there’s a curvilinear relationship between leader age and effectiveness. Unlike previous research, we considered perceptions alongside tangible outcomes. Initially, we hypothesized that leaders would be the most effective during their middle-aged years, creating an inverse U-shaped curve. Contrary to the initial hypothesis, our analysis revealed that there was not a significant curvilinear relationship between age and leadership effectiveness, challenging conventional beliefs about age and leadership effectiveness. Further investigation into contextual factors and implicit biases influencing voter perceptions of age in leadership could offer significant findings for political strategists and enhance the understanding of leadership effectiveness in modern society.
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