B.S., M.S., Ph.D., University of Illinois, Urbana

Martin Chemers is a social psychologist with interests in leadership and team and organizational effectiveness. Much of his work has addressed how cultural and personality characteristics of leaders and followers affect the intrapersonal and interpersonal processes that give rise to highly motivated and effective teams. Also of central interest are factors that influence the leadership effectiveness of "nontraditional" leaders such as women and minority-group members. Chemers' current research is focused on the “leadership efficacy” which refers to confidence in one's leadership ability. High efficacy leaders are seen as highly effective by superiors, peers, and subordinates; are able to persevere in the face of difficult and stressful circumstances; and have a strong influence on the collective efficacy of followers and teammates.

Chemers has recently applied self-efficacy constructs to research on student adjustment and performance at university. Studies indicate that first-year university students who rate themselves highly on academic self-efficacy set higher academic goals, perform better in classes, and suffer less stress and stress-related illness than do students scoring lower on academic self-efficacy. Chemers has received a $1.5 million, four-year grant to study how self-efficacy mediates the positive effects of research internship programs on minority students’ performance in and commitment to bio-medical research careers.

Leadership, team and organizational effectiveness, cultural and personality characteristics of leaders, college student adjustment and performance.

Chemers, M.M.; Hu, L.; and Garcia, B.F. Academic self-efficacy and first-year college student performance and adjustment. Journal of Educational Psychology, 2001, 93, 1, 55-64.

Watson, C.B.; Chemers, M.M.; and Preiser, N. Collective efficacy: A multilevel analysis, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2001, 27, 8, 1057-1068

Chemers, M.M.; Watson, C.B.; and May, S. Dispositional affect and leadership effectiveness: A comparison of self-esteem, optimism and efficacy, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2000.

An Integrative Theory of Leadership, Mawah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1997.

Chemers, M.M., and Murphy, S.E. Leadership for diversity in groups and organizations. In M.M. Chemers, S. Oskamp, and M.A. Costanzo (Eds.), Diversity in Organizations. Newbury Hills, CA: Sage, 1995.