Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition: Instructor Resource
Multiple Choice
1. The underlying premise of the psychodynamic approach chapter is
a. There are rational behaviors that describe leadership action
b. There are irrational forces that underlie seemingly rational behaviors
c. Irrational behaviors are the downfall of organizations
d. Observations of behaviors are rational in nature
2. Historically, leadership scholars
a. Have avoided studying emotions in leadership
b. Have avoided studying leadership behaviors
c. Have avoided the psychological realm of organizational life
d. Have avoided studying personality and leadership
3. The dynamics of human behavior
a. Are often difficult to understand
b. Are easy to understand
c. Are similar to skills dynamics
d. Are related to the Big Five personality profiles
4. The psychodynamic approach to leadership focuses on
a. The effects of behavior in organizations
b. The dynamics of personality
c. The effects of behavior on the leader
d. The dynamics of human behavior
5. The psychodynamic approach to leadership suggests that only through accepting and
explaining undercurrents of human behavior
a. Can we begin to understand complex organizations
b. Will decision making be easy
c. Can we understand human motivation
d. Will we understand leadership
6. A framework through which we apply a psychodynamic lens to the study of behavior in
organizations is
a. A behavioral paradigm
b. A psychological paradigm
c. A clinical paradigm
d. A psychic paradigm
7. The purpose of the clinical paradigm is
a. To identify aberrant behaviors
b. To discover how leaders and organizations really work
c. To discover the best emotional leadership style
d. To determine the best behavioral leadership style
8. Which of the following is not one of the four premises of the clinical paradigm?
a. There is irrationality behind every act
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition: Instructor Resource
b. Regulating emotions is less important than regulating actions
c. Much of mental life lies outside of conscious awareness
d. We are products of interpersonal experiences
9. Which premise of the clinical paradigm states that there is a logical explanation behind every
human act?
a. Mental life lies outside of conscious awareness
b. Human development is an intra- and interpersonal process
c. There is rationale behind every act
d. How one regulates and expresses emotions is central to a person’s identity
10. Which premise requires “tective” work to find clues to explain perplexing behavior?
a. Mental life lies outside of conscious awareness
b. Human development is an intra- and interpersonal process
c. There is rationale behind every act
d. How we regulate and express emotions is central to a person’s identity
11. One of my employees is acting irrationally. I am certain there is a reasonable explanation for
the behavior. I am applying which premise of the clinical paradigm?
a. Mental life lies outside of conscious awareness
b. Human development is an intra- and interpersonal process
c. There is rationale behind every act
d. How we regulate and express emotions is central to a person’s identity
12. Which premise of the clinical paradigm describes feelings and motives that we do not
realize?
a. Mental life lies outside of conscious awareness
b. Human development is an intra- and interpersonal process
c. There is rationale behind every act
d. How we regulate and express emotions is central to a person’s identity
13. Which premise of the clinical paradigm describes “blind spots” we all have?
a. Mental life lies outside of conscious awareness
b. Human development is an intra- and interpersonal process
c. There is rationale behind every act
d. How we regulate and express emotions is central to a person’s identity
14. When I am leading my group of followers, sometimes I say or do things that I really do not
understand and that do not seem to be part of my typical way of dealing with issues. I am
applying which premise of the clinical paradigm?
a. Mental life lies outside of conscious awareness
b. Human development is an intra- and interpersonal process
c. There is rationale behind every act
d. How we regulate and express emotions is central to a person’s identity
15. Which premise of the clinical paradigm describes how emotions are related to life
experiences and can have both positive and negative connotations that affect the choices we
make?
a. Mental life lies outside of conscious awareness
b. Human development is an intra- and interpersonal process
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition: Instructor Resource
c. There is rationale behind every act
d. How we regulate and express emotions is central to a person’s identity
16. Which premise of the clinical paradigm focuses on how emotions form the basis for the
internalization of mental representations of self and others that guide our relationships?
a. Mental life lies outside of conscious awareness
b. Human development is an intra- and interpersonal process
c. There is rationale behind every act
d. How we regulate and express emotions is central to a person’s identity
17. I have developed emotional intelligence through many years working as a leader at many
levels. I am applying which premise of the clinical paradigm?
a. Mental life lies outside of conscious awareness
b. Human development is an intra- and interpersonal process
c. There is rationale behind every act
d. How we regulate and express emotions is central to a person’s identity
18. Which premise of the clinical paradigm states that our early caregivers and other
developmental experiences influence us throughout life?
a. Mental life lies outside of conscious awareness
b. Human development is an intra- and interpersonal process
c. There is rationale behind every act
d. How we regulate and express emotions is central to a person’s identity
19. Which premise of the clinical paradigm says we are products of our past experiences?
a. Mental life lies outside of conscious awareness
b. Human development is an intra- and interpersonal process
c. There is rationale behind every act
d. How we regulate and express emotions is central to a person’s identity
20. It seems that I keep making the same mistakes as I did when I was younger. I am applying
which premise of the clinical paradigm?
a. Mental life lies outside of conscious awareness
b. Human development is an intra- and interpersonal process
c. There is rationale behind every act
d. How we regulate and express emotions is central to a person’s identity
21. The clinical paradigm shares insight into
a. The subconscious forces of human behavior
b. The conscious mind
c. The effects of clinical therapy
d. The dichotomy of emotions and psyche
22. The origins of the psychodynamic paradigm stem from which scholar’s work?
a. Fromm
b. Freud
c. Maccoby
d. Jung
23. The Kets de Vries Neurotic Organization Study created a new framework for analysis of
organizations proposing that
a. Organizations have their own set of psychological neuroses
b. Followers set the psychological structure of organizations
c. Neuroses of a top leader can be recreated throughout the organization
d. Social dreaming is a way of defining meaning for the organization
24. Which scholar described the term “applied clinical practice” when exploring organizational
processes?
a. Gruenfeld
b. Zaleznik
c. Kats de Vries
d. Hirschhorn
25. The majority of the research of the Tavistock Institute was focused primarily on group
processes in
a. Public organizations
b. Privately held companies
c. Business-based organizations
d. Non-profit organizations
26. Which scholar(s) from the Tavistock Institute completed the 17-year “Glacier Project.”
a. Menninger and Levinson
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition: Instructor Resource
b. Brown and Jacques
c. Zaleznik
d. Freud
27. Zaleznik and the researchers at the Boston Psychoanalytic Institute were interested in
combining the
a. Psychodynamic approach with clinical practice
b. Psychoanalysis with organizational role analysis
c. Work world with socio-technical systems
d. Work world with the world of psychoanalysis
28. Mitscherlich, post–World War II, published influential work that shaped Germany’s analysis
of the causes of the war and
a. Interpreted the holocaust using the clinical paradigm
b. Opened the field of psychotherapy to the lay public
c. Opened the field of social psychology to a broader audience
d. Interpreted emotions as stemming from negative childhood experiences
29. The history of the psychodynamic approach provides context for the study of leadership by
a. Empirically testing emotional responses to follower actions
b. Providing a chronology of the dynamics and functioning of leaders and organizations
c. Informing leaders about their psychological dysfunctions
d. Studying in the chronology of wartime abuses of power
30. The key concepts within the psychodynamic approach each provide a way of looking at the
hidden dynamics of organizational behavior in order to
a. Decipher the behaviors that lead to positive leadership
b. Decipher the emotional impact of leaders on their followers
c. Decipher the knowledge acquisition necessary for top leader performance
d. Decipher the motives for why people behave the way they do
31. The focus on the inner theatre concept is described as
a. Experiences with others that contribute to the creation of response patterns
b. Knowledge gained in post-secondary school that defines our behaviors
c. Psychological development in relation to groups
d. Unconscious assumptions about dangerous organizational behaviors
32. Which of the following is not a key concept within the Psychodynamic Approach?
a. Focus on the inner theatre
b. Focus on the leader-follower relationships
c. Focus on the behavioral norms of organizations
d. Focus on the shadow side of leadership
33. Which of the following is not one of Bion’s three basic assumptions in groups?
a. Dependency
b. Interdependency
c. Fight-flight
d. Pairing
34. In the focus on the theatre concept in psychodynamic approach, what does CCRT stand for?
a. Concepts, Considerations, and Reactive Themes
b. Conflictual Considerations and Reactive Teams
c. Core Concepts Relationship Teams
d. Core Conflictual Relationship Themes
35. Our early experiences with key individuals like early caregivers contribute to how we
respond to people in other contexts with different people. These responses can be described as
a. Repeated response patterns
b. Conflictual response patterns
c. Reactive team patterns
d. Emotional response patterns
36. Relationship themes develop over time that are rooted in
a. Our ego
b. Our internal ordering system
c. Our deepest wishes, needs, and goals
d. Our personality
37. In the workplace, we act out core conflictual relationship themes onto others and then react to
others based on
a. Their perceived reactions
b. Their actual actions
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition: Instructor Resource
c. Their perceived emotions
d. Their demonstrated emotions
38. Paying attention to the CCRT of an individual and understanding key relationship conflicts
can
a. Cause conflict among organizational members
b. Cause conflict within personal relationships
c. Produce more effective interpersonal relationships
d. Produce less effective interpersonal relationships
39. In Bion’s basic assumptions about groups, what is a potential outcome of these pathological
regressive processes?
a. People regress to behaviors from childhood
b. People are deflected from the main tasks to be performed
c. People end up identifying with the aggressor
d. People contain their anxiety levels
40. In Bion’s dependency assumption, when people assume that the leader should offer similar
protection to that provided by parents in early years, this assumption is based on
a. Conscious thought
b. Conscious action
c. Unconscious thought
d. Unconscious action
41. Groups that are united by the dependency assumption and readily give up their autonomy
would likely do well with a leader using which leader behavior?
a. Directive
b. Supportive
c. Delegating
d. Impoverished
42. Groups in which there is a tendency to split the authority and include avoidance,
absenteeism, and resignation are in which of Bion’s unconscious assumptions?
a. Dependency
b. Social defense
c. Pairing
d. Fight-flight
43. In the fight-flight assumption there is a tendency to
a. Split the world into haves and have-nots
b. Split the world into “like me” and “like them”
c. Split the world into friend or foe
d. Split the work into competitive teams
44. When some leaders encourage the fight-flight assumption and use in-group/out-group
division for motivation and to reinforce the group’s identity they are misrepresenting the main
premise of which leadership approach?
a. Situational
b. Behavioral
c. Trait
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition: Instructor Resource
d. LMX
45. An unconscious assumption whereby people join with a group or another person who is seen
as powerful and will help them cope with anxiety is called
a. Fight-flight
b. Dependency
c. Pairing
d. Power sharing
46. Which of Bion’s assumptions has potential to manifest itself in ganging up against the leader
who is perceived as the aggressor or authority figure?
a. Fight-flight
b. Dependency
c. Pairing
d. Power sharing
47. When do people engage in regressive social defenses to neutralize strong tensions in
organizations?
a. When individuals express anger toward the leader
b. When the organization does not provide protection
c. When the organization’s anxieties are not properly managed
d. When organizations are not functioning properly
48. Which social defense mechanism is described as seeing one’s own shortcomings in others?
a. Splitting
b. Denial
c. Displacement
d. Projection
49. What can happen when leaders try to contain anxiety using existing structures and processes?
a. Reduced creativity and openness to change
b. Ganging up on the group leader
c. Higher independence from group leader
d. Reduced leader control and impersonality
50. Taking cues about our own behavior from those around us describes
a. Mimicking
b. Mirroring
c. Reflecting
d. Idealizing
51. Mirroring and idealizing can end up having a negative impact on an organization by
a. Leaders admiring and emulating followers
b. Followers becoming more like the leader
c. Followers becoming more like each other
d. Enforcing transferential patterns not based in reality
52. What do followers do when they are identifying with the aggressor?
a. They threaten others
b. They resign
c. The hold others to a higher standard
d. They threaten the leader
53. The two sides of narcissism are
a. Constructive and destructive
b. Reactive and destructive
c. Reactive and dependent
d. Constructive and reactive
54. Constructive narcissists have empathy and inspire others to be better at what they do and
even to change what they do. This is similar to the leader behaviors and principles of which other
leadership theory?
a. Path-goal
b. LMX
c. Authentic
d. Transformational
55. It is hard to figure out what is happening in our team. It seems that madness has taken over
not only our boss but most of the team! What is happening in this team?
a. Narcissism
b. Mirroring
c. Folie à deux