My research focuses on three areas: (1) charismatic leadership, (2) sex differences and gender bias in leadership, and (3) methodological and statistical rigor in leadership research.
Charismatic Leadership
My work on charisma examines how leaders influence others through signals and cues—such as rhetoric, voice, and appearance—when these signals translate into leader emergence and effectiveness, and the conditions that shape the impact of charisma.
Sex Differences and Gender Bias
A second line of research investigates sex differences and gender bias in leadership. Here I examine the tension between actual behavioral sex differences and perceived gender differences, critically evaluate the methodological foundations of this literature, and study how bias in leader evaluation and selection can be reduced.
Methodological and Statistical Rigor in Leadership Research
My third line of research focuses on improving the methodological and statistical rigor of leadership research, with particular attention to causal inference, measurement, and the identification of bias in empirical findings.
My work has been published in leading journals including The Leadership Quarterly, Journal of Business and Psychology, and European Management Journal. I am also currently Social Media Editor and Editorial Board Member of The Leadership Quarterly.
Wilms, R. (2025). What Predicts Within-Variance After Correcting for Measurement Error? A Re-Analysis on Podsakoff et al. (2019). Collabra: Psychology; 11 (1): 144446. https://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.144446
Wilms, R., Oostrom, J. K., & van Garderen, E. (2025). The effects of the charisma signal and voice pitch in female leader selection. The Leadership Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2024.101857
Wilms, R., Bastardoz, N., Seif el Dahan, C., & Jacquart, P. (2025). Are we on the same page? Leader-follower value congruence as a boundary condition in the emergence of charismatic effects. The Leadership Quarterly, 35(6), 101839. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2024.101839
Kordsmeyer, T. L., Speer, A. B., Wilms, R., & Kurz, R. (2024). Longitudinal effects of employees’ Big Five personality traits on internal promotions differentiated by job level in a multinational company. Journal of Business and Psychology, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-023-09930-7
Wilms, R., Mäthner, E., Winnen, L. & Lanwehr, R. (2021, previously top cited paper in the journal). Omitted variable bias: a threat to estimating causal relationships. Methods in Psychology, 5, 100075.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.metip.2021.100075
Wilms, R., Lanwehr, R., & Kastenmüller, A. (2021). Always look on the bright side of life? Exploring the between-variance and within-variance of emotion regulation goals. Motivation and Emotion. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-021-09867-5