Rizz: The Psychological Secrets of Charisma

Rizz, a slang term for charisma, is the Oxford English Dictionary’s word of the year (beating out Swiftie and situationship). This seems an appropriate time to write about the psychology of charisma.

I’ve been studying charisma for 45 years, and through our research, and research by others, we are beginning to understand this intriguing and elusive psychological construct.

Early Conceptualizations of Charisma

The roots of charisma are religious. Charisma means the divine gift of grace, and there are notions of charisma in Christian religion. Secular ideas of charisma are best represented by German sociologist, Max Weber, who discussed charismatic authority. According to Weber, certain individuals possess extraordinary qualities that seem to captivate others. As a result, that charismatic individual is seen as a leader and attracts devoted followers. This led to a long line of research on charismatic leadership, including theories by House (1976) and Conger and colleagues (Conger and Kanungo, 1998). Beyond charismatic leadership, however, here is a focus on the qualities that make a person charismatic, regardless of whether or not they are a leader.

The Qualities That Make Up Charisma

Charisma is not one thing. Research suggests that it’s a composite of different qualities possessed by certain individuals that helps draw attention to them, and makes them attractive to others. Yet, charismatic influence is a relationship-based phenomenon. These dimensions of charisma can be put into five categories.

1. Emotional Expressiveness – The Tip of the Charismatic Iceberg

Our earliest research on charisma centered on people who were naturally and spontaneously emotionally expressive. We found that emotionally expressive people were better liked in initial encounters (Friedman, Riggio, and Casella, 1988), including salespersons, public speakers, and actors. Much of the research that has attempted to train people to become more charismatic has focused on becoming more emotionally expressive in their facial expressions, tone of voice, and gesturing (for example, Antonakis and colleagues, 2011). Some people may have a natural emotional expressiveness that is advantageous and predisposes them to be seen as more charismatic. We have found, however, that expressiveness needs to be controlled and regulated to be seen as truly charismatic (Riggio, 1987).

1. Words Matter

Additional lines of research have looked at the speech of charismatic individuals, focusing on charismatic leaders—Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton, and other charismatic US leaders. They all were eloquent speakers, and this verbal ability is also important to one being perceived as charismatic. For example, in analyzing the speeches of US Presidents, those who were rated as more charismatic included more metaphors in their speeches (Mioand colleagues, 2005). Moreover, the speech pattern is also important. More charismatic individuals are more verbally fluent, with fewer speech disturbances.

1. Empathy and Relationship Skills

While being expressive and verbally articulate will lead to initial impressions of charisma, truly charismatic individuals connect with others. People who interacted with charismatic presidents JFK and Bill Clinton said that they made you feel like “you were the only person in the room.” Our research shows that charismatic persons can easily pick up on the emotions of others and respond to them. Thus, interacting with a truly charismatic individual feels like a rewarding encounter.

1. Savoir-faire

This is the term that we use to describe the poise and social confidence that charismatic persons possess (Riggio, Eaton, and Funder, 2020). Charismatic individuals understand the dynamics of social situations and can relate to, and fit in with, a wide variety of different people. A prototype of savoir-faire (knowing how to be) is a fictional character, James Bond, who is always calm, cool, collected, and in charge, in any situation.

1. Charisma Is Ultimately in the Eye of the Beholder

Regardless of the personal charismatic qualities one possesses, charisma and charismatic influence is a relationship. As we learn from research on charismatic leadership, only persons who are favorable toward the leader will be enthralled by the leader’s charisma. For example, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say that President Obama is charismatic, while Republicans, are more likely to judge President Trump as having charisma. While persons possessing the elements of charisma—emotional expressiveness, verbal and relationship skills, poise, and self-confidence—are more likely to be seen as charismatic, the true power of charisma comes down to a social relationship.