Autocratic leaders and authoritarian followers revisited: A review and agenda for the future

The indirect impact of the technostress subfactors on the satisfaction and desire to work from home

Introduction

Organizational digitalization is a phenomenon that is becoming more widespread and holistic; that is responsible for more employees being affected by digital work and working from home. While introducing remote work offers numerous economic benefits for organizations, this transition must be aligned with employees' needs rather than in an authoritarian manner. Our research aimed to investigate how sub-factors of technostress, directly and indirectly, influence the satisfaction and desire to work from home.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional survey with a sample of 361 office workers with at least two years of experience who have spent some time working from home. We checked our hypotheses with a path model.

Results

Our research found that techno-insecurity and techno-complexity have a minimal direct influence on the desire to work from home. However, the desire to work from home significantly decreases through various mediation pathways via the status sub-factor (which can be seen as one of the latent benefits of remote work) and through satisfaction with working from home. Our model explains 33.7% of the variance in the desire to work from home.

Discussion

This suggests that leaders have a task of great significance: to decrease the technostress employees are exposed to and to draw the attention of researchers to the fact that technostress has more complex indirect effects than previously assumed.

Western and non-western leadership styles and employee wellbeing: a case of a high-power distance context

The study combines an emic and etic perspective to test the relationships between three different (Western and non-Western) leadership styles, that is, transformational, authoritarian, and benevolent paternalistic, and follower emotional exhaustion in a high-power distance context of Russia. It employs hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to analyse a sample of 403 followers to middle-level managers in Russian organizations. The analysis finds only transformational leadership to be generally negatively associated with emotional exhaustion. However, under conditions of high individual-level power distance orientation among followers, this association diminishes whereas that of authoritarian leadership and exhaustion increases. Benevolent paternalistic leadership is unrelated to emotional exhaustion. The study extends research on the relative importance of Western and non-Western leadership behaviors for employee wellbeing in high-power distance contexts and on how this importance differs across followers, thus highlighting the role of follower expectations in determining the effectiveness of leadership. It points toward the need for future research to simultaneously test the contingencies and relative importance of paternalistic, authoritarian, transformational, as well as other leadership styles in various cultures as well as to continue exploring the moderating influence of various cultural value orientations on these leadership styles' follower effects.

[Influence of leadership style on knowledge management and hospital efficiency]

OBJECTIVE

To analyse the effect of leadership style on knowledge management in hospitals and hospital efficiency based on the opinion of experts in hospital management, applying fuzzy cognitive maps (FCM).

METHOD

FCM are relational models that can be used to graphically represent expert opinion and knowledge to infer cause-effect relationships between different concepts. The use of FCM as a simulation tool allows the evaluation of possible scenarios based on different leadership styles in hospitals.

RESULTS

In the resulting augmented matrix, standardized effects range from 0.02 to 0.84, with the highest value representing the strongest relationship between knowledge exploitation and hospital efficiency. From the viewpoint of experts, knowledge creation within the hospital also influences hospital efficiency. Regarding variables reflecting leadership characteristics, positive effects have been identified, though with varying intensities, between authority, benevolence, and charisma, both in terms of knowledge creation and exploitation, as well as hospital efficiency. The transformational leadership style is associated with coefficients having higher values for knowledge management and hospital efficiency.

CONCLUSIONS

Experts suggest that hospitals with authoritarian leadership styles would exhibit lower levels of knowledge creation and management, as well as lower hospital efficiency. On the other hand, they associate hospitals managed with a paternalistic leadership style with better values in both knowledge creation and exploitation, as well as hospital efficiency, compared to the authoritarian leadership style. Finally, they attribute the highest levels in aspects related to knowledge management and hospital efficiency to the transformational leadership style.

Understanding left-wing authoritarianism: Relations to the dark personality traits, altruism, and social justice commitment

In two pre-registered studies, we investigated the relationship of left-wing authoritarianism with the ego-focused trait of narcissism. Based on existing research, we expected individuals with higher levels of left-wing authoritarianism to also report higher levels of narcissism. Further, as individuals with leftist political attitudes can be assumed to be striving for social equality, we expected left-wing authoritarianism to also be positively related to prosocial traits, but narcissism to remain a significant predictor of left-wing authoritarianism above and beyond those prosocial dispositions. We investigated our hypotheses in two studies using cross-sectional correlational designs. Two nearly representative US samples (Study 1: N = 391; Study 2: N = 377) completed online measures of left-wing authoritarianism, the Dark Triad personality traits, and two variables with a prosocial focus (i.e., altruism and social justice commitment). In addition, we assessed relevant covariates (i.e., age, gender, socially desirable responding, and virtue signaling). The results of multiple regression analyses showed that a strong ideological view, according to which a violent revolution against existing societal structures is legitimate (i.e., anti-hierarchical aggression), was associated with antagonistic narcissism (Study 1) and psychopathy (Study 2). However, neither dispositional altruism nor social justice commitment was related to left-wing anti-hierarchical aggression. Considering these results, we assume that some leftist political activists do not actually strive for social justice and equality but rather use political activism to endorse or exercise violence against others to satisfy their own ego-focused needs. We discuss these results in relation to the dark-ego-vehicle principle.

When Is Authoritarian Leadership Less Detrimental? The Role of Leader Capability

We developed and tested a moderated mediation model of the relationship between authoritarian leadership and employees' task performance as well as their affective organizational commitment. Analyses of multilevel, multisource, and three-wave data from 99 supervisors and 341 subordinates showed that leader effectiveness evaluations mediated the time-lagged relationship of authoritarian leadership with employees' task performance and affective organizational commitment. Moreover, when leader capability is high, it mitigates the negative relationship between AL and employees' outcomes. Furthermore, the leader capability moderates the indirect relationship of authoritarian leadership with employees' task performance and affective organizational commitment via leader effectiveness evaluation. This study contributes to leadership research and extends our understanding of how and under what circumstances AL is less detrimental to employees' workplace outcomes.

Leadership configuration in crises: Lessons from the English response to COVID-19

Our study examines the empirical case of the political leadership response to Covid-19 in England. It shows that, rather than the ideal configuration of leadership suggested by theory, within which individualistic and collective leadership blend, a less balanced configuration emerged that can be characterised as incoherent. In England, an individual political leader behaved in an authoritarian way, which ignored evidence about how to address Covid-19. So, rather than an individual orchestrating a collective leadership effort to address complex issues, leadership was rendered fragmented and chaotic. We suggest that the English context, characterised by populist tendencies and neoliberal economic policy, shaped the poor leadership response to Covid-19.

Does follower role orientation impact leader-directed outcomes? An exploration of the indirect effects of follower role orientation on influence and leader effectiveness

Follower role orientations affect how followers approach the leadership process; however, there has been little insight into how individuals use these role beliefs to influence leader outcomes, particularly through their psychological and social leader-follower relationships. This research examines how co-production, passive, and anti-authoritarian follower role orientations affect a follower's influence on their leader and leader effectiveness indirectly through psychological closeness and relationship quality. The results from two studies suggest co-production role orientation had positive effects on influence on the leader through psychological closeness and on perceived leader effectiveness through closeness and leader-member exchange. Passive role orientation was negatively related to followers' influence on the leader through reduced psychological closeness in study 1, while anti-authoritarian role beliefs were negatively related to closeness in study 2. These findings suggest that when followers believe co-production is critical to the leadership process, closeness with the leader, relationship quality, and perceived leader effectiveness improve.

The good side of authoritarian leaders: leader in the eyes of the subordinates

Although subordinate's perception of authoritarian leadership is viewed derogatively in the leadership literature, limited studies still claim that it can positively influence subordinate's performance. Drawing from the attribution theory, we hypothesize and demonstrate that subordinate's perception of authoritarian leadership can have a positive, indirect effect on subordinate task performance through the subordinate-attributed performance promotion motive, but only when the subordinate's perception of leader's expert power is high. We found support for our hypothesized model using multisource data collected from 246 subordinates and 76 supervisors from 11 different private sector organizations in Pakistan.

Bad Is Stronger Than Good

Abstract. Organizational scholars increasingly realize the importance of a dark personality in the workplace. Although a great deal has been learned in terms of the utility of dark personality for the prediction of workplace outcomes, the field has yet to consolidate in terms of which models and measures best reflect the nature of dark personality traits. To facilitate this discussion, the present review examines and evaluates both established and emergent models and measures of dark personality. Further, to inform future research, it also summarizes evidence concerning methodological issues that have been shown to impact levels of dark traits or to moderate their relationships with work outcomes. Finally, the paper considers the implications of widespread practices in the field of dark personality and makes recommendations for future theorizing, research practices, and implementation.

Effects of Leaders’ Power Construal on Leader-Member Exchange: The Moderating Role of Competitive Climate at Work

How leaders construe their power may greatly affect the quality of relationships they have with their followers. Indeed, we propose that when leader power is (perceived to be) construed as responsibility, this will positively affect the extent to which followers perceive high quality leader-follower relationships (LMX), whereas the opposite will be true when leader power is (perceived to be) construed as opportunity. Moreover, we argue that these relationships are contingent on contextual influences, such that the effects will be particularly strong in environments characterized by competition, because such environments exacerbate the impact of leaders’ behavior. The results of a scenario experiment (Study 1), and a two-week time-lagged study among organizational employees (Study 2), showed that a manipulation of leaders’ tendency to view power as responsibility (Study 1), and followers’ perception of the extent to which their leader sees power as responsibility (Study 2) is positively related to follower LMX perceptions. Moreover, both Studies 1 and 2 and a dyadic field study in which we asked leaders to report on their tendency to view power as responsibility (Study 3) showed that this effect is stronger when the organizational climate is highly competitive. The results pertaining to power as opportunity were less consistent, but suggest a negative relationship with perceived LMX (Study 2), particularly when the organizational climate is highly competitive (Study 3). We conclude that the potential effects of leaders’ construal of power as responsibility or opportunity deserve more research attention than previously awarded and provide managerial ramifications of our findings.

Collaborative leadership with a focus on stakeholder identification and engagement and ethical leadership: a dental perspective

The dental profession is susceptible to change. In order to cope and adapt, individuals and organisations will need to work together, now more than ever. One approach that may be beneficial in these times, and beyond, is collaborative leadership. This is where a mutually beneficial relationship is established between two or more parties, who work towards common goals by sharing authority, responsibility and accountability for achieving results. When groups of individuals look beyond their personal interests and instead collaborate, they may channel their efforts to successfully achieve shared goals. However, for this to be fruitful, stakeholders (to include different individuals or groups that have a vested interest) will need to be identified and engaged, and ethical values based on the objectives of the organisation and those advocated by professional and regulatory bodies must be upheld. This paper explores how the traditional practices of stakeholder identification and engagement, as well as ethical leadership, may be of relevance in attaining success through the contemporary collaborative leadership approach.

In these times and beyond, embracing mutually beneficial relationships based on trust, integrity and empowerment shall be more important than ever; therefore, there is a great need for collaborative leadership within the dental profession.

An awareness of, and ability to use, the traditional practices of stakeholder identification and engagement as well as ethical leadership may allow dental organisations and professionals to better exercise collaborative leadership.

Alike with clinical knowledge and skills, dental organisations and professionals must self-reflect on their own leadership capabilities, be self-aware of their strengths and weaknesses, and aspire to improve themselves accordingly.

How Authoritarian Leadership Affects Employee's Helping Behavior? The Mediating Role of Rumination and Moderating Role of Psychological Ownership

Interpersonal helping behaviors, i.e., voluntarily assisting colleagues for their workplace related problems, have received immense amount of scholarly attention due to their significant impacts on organizational effectiveness. Among several other factors, authoritarian leadership style could influence helping behavior within organizations. Furthermore, this relationship could be mediated by workplace stressor such as rumination, known as a critical psychological health component leading to depressive symptoms, hopelessness and pessimism. In the meantime, less research attention has devoted to probe the crucial role of psychological ownership, which can buffer the adverse effects of authoritarian leadership upon rumination. Building on conservation of resources theory, this study investigates the adverse impacts of authoritarian leadership on employees' helping behaviors through mediating role of rumination, and also examines the moderating effect of psychological ownership between the relationship of authoritarian leadership and rumination. The data were collected from 264 employees in education and banking sectors and the results show: (i) authoritarian leadership has adverse impacts on helping behavior, (ii) rumination mediates the relationship between authoritarian leadership and employees' helping behaviors, and (iii) psychological ownership moderates the positive relationship between authoritarian leadership and rumination. This study concludes that authoritarian leadership has adverse impacts upon helping behavior, which needs to be controlled/minimized. The findings are of great significance for managers, employees, and organizations in terms of policy implications. The limitations and future research directions are also discussed.

Dangerous Worldview and Perceived Sociopolitical Control: Two Mechanisms to Understand Trust in Authoritarian Political Leaders in Economically Threatening Contexts

In this research we analyzed the relationship between threatening economic contexts (i.e., undergoing the economic crisis and having low socioeconomic status) and trust in authoritarian ideologies and leaders, regardless of the left-right political axis. Based on two theoretical approaches (i.e., the dual-process model and the compensatory control model), we argue that this relationship is mediated by dangerous worldview and low perceived sociopolitical control. We conducted two correlational studies with samples of the general population. In Study 1 (N = 185), we found that perceived threat from the economic crisis and low socioeconomic status were correlated with a higher dangerous worldview, which resulted in a more authoritarian ideology (i.e., authoritarianism) and finally in greater trust in an authoritarian political leader. In Study 2 (N = 413), we replicated the findings of Study 1 and demonstrated that low perceived sociopolitical control was associated with higher authoritarianism. Moreover, low perceived sociopolitical control partially mediated the relationship between dangerous worldview and authoritarianism. Overall, our results show that two economically threatening contexts (i.e., the economic crisis and low socioeconomic status) promote authoritarianism and trust in authoritarian leaders (with unspecified political orientation) through psychological processes (i.e., perception of the social world and perceived control). These results are useful to understand and combat the rise of authoritarianism in our societies during financially difficult times such as economic crises.

The interaction between leadership styles and their followers' human capital: a correspondence analysis approach applied to micro-sized businesses

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the tendency of leaders to select their followers depending on their human capital factors such as age, education level, previous working experience and training.

Design/methodology/approach

The participants were 1,388 employees working in a randomly selected sample of 289 small-sized businesses operating in Yemen. A self-reported questionnaire was used to collect the data. The correspondence analysis method was used to explore the tendency of leaders to select their followers depending on their human capital factors.

Findings

We found significant corresponding relationships between leadership styles and the selection of the followers' human capital factors. The passive avoidant style was found to select middle-age, long-experience and fully-trained followers. Transactional style on the other hand was found to select young, middle-level experience and non-trained followers. The transformational leadership style was found to have no selection preferences towards any of the human capital factors except for working experience.

Originality/value

Although, some previous studies tried to understand the leaders–followers relationships, no one investigated the tendency of leaders to select their followers according to their preferences. This study contributes significantly to the leaders–followers theory by studying the selection process of the leadership style of their followers' human capital factors. Understanding this phenomenon could help explain why some leadership styles are more effective than others, especially in very limited resources contexts such as micro-sized businesses.

Abusive Supervisory Behavior Aimed at Raising Work Group Performance

Perceived abusive supervision implies detrimental human consequences and negative performance effects. However, paradoxically, there are numerous anecdotal reports on managers who appear to deliberately mistreat most of their subordinates in an effort to enhance work group performance, preferring abusive methods of influence over more constructive motivational approaches. Because destructive leadership theory does not provide a compelling explanation for this perplexing phenomenon, I conducted an inductive, longitudinal case study at the executive level of a large corporation to explore antecedents of performance-oriented abusive supervisory behavior. The analysis of rich, contextualized data reveals that empathic incompetence of superiors to consider the emotions, goals, and limitations of inferiors can imply a belief in the efficacy of harsh management tactics, resulting in abrasive supervisory conduct and an abusive supervision climate collectively perceived by subalterns. The findings suggest social dominance orientation (SDO) of upper-level managers to moderate these relationships through cognitive activation of abusive supervisory values.

Supervisor narcissistic rage: political support as an antidote

Purpose

This research examines how perceived supervisor political support (SPS) moderates the relationship between perceived supervisor narcissistic rage (SNR) and relevant employee work outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

Across three studies (Study 1: 604 student-recruited working adults; Study 2: 156 practicing lawyers: Study 3: 161 municipality employees), employees provided ratings for SPS, SNR and ratings of their job satisfaction, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), depressed work mood and work neglect.

Findings

Results supported the authors’ argument that SPS moderates the relationship between SNR and work outcomes. Specifically, SNR was associated with unfavorable outcomes only when SPS was low. When SPS was high, SNR had little effect on job satisfaction, OCBs, depressed mood and neglect.

Research limitations/implications

Results affirm that supervisor characteristics considered toxic do not always provoke adverse reactions when considering other leader features simultaneously.

Practical implications

Supervisors capable of offering political support can positively influence subordinate attitudes, behaviors and well-being even when other aspects of their personality potentially initiate antagonism.

Originality/value

This study is the first to examine SNR features and informal support activities concurrently.

Long-Term Orientation as a Resource for Entrepreneurial Orientation in Private Family Firms: The Need for Participative Decision Making

Building on the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm, this paper suggests that a family firm’s long-term orientation (LTO) can be an important resource that increases firm-level entrepreneurial orientation (EO). Nevertheless, resource orchestration suggests that managers need to orchestrate their resources in order to realize any potential advantage. Therefore, we hypothesize that a family firm’s LTO entails potential resources to engage in entrepreneurial activities, while a participative decision making (PDM) style serves as coordinating mechanism that helps the firm to manage these resources. Using data from 209 private family firms, the results show a positive association between LTO and EO. Also, PDM was found to positively moderate the LTO-EO relationship, providing empirical support for our central hypothesis.

The Three Graces of Leadership: Untangling the Relative Importance and the Mediating Mechanisms of Three Leadership Styles in Russia

Drawing on the job-demand resource theory, the article examines the relative importance and the complementarity of three widely practiced leadership styles – transformational, paternalistic, and authoritarian. It investigates how the three styles relate to followers’ work engagement amongst employees in Russian domestic organizations. It also theorizes and tests the mediating effects of three psychological mechanisms, namely self-efficacy, self-esteem, and job control, on the examined relationships. The findings show that all three leadership styles relate to followers’ work engagement positively. The relationship of transformational leadership is dominant and mediated by all three psychological mechanisms. The remaining two styles also make their unique contributions to followers’ work engagement. Whereas authoritarian leadership influences followers by enhancing their self-efficacy and self-esteem, paternalistic leadership operates more extrinsically by increasing followers’ job control. Surprisingly, our analyses found that the role of control variables such as gender, age, and hierarchical position were insignificant in predicting how the three leadership styles influence employee work engagement. The study is among the first to shed light on the relative importance of the three focal leadership styles, their differential influences and interrelations, and the different mechanisms through which they relate to followers’ work engagement.

Linking authoritarian leadership to employee organizational embeddedness, LMX and performance in a high-power distance culture: a mediation-moderated analysis

Purpose

This study has two primary objectives: (1) to shed light on the mechanism by which authoritarian leadership unfolds its impact on such critical aspects of subordinates' work lives as job satisfaction and in-role performance and (2) to identify the moderating conditions which place limits on the impact of authoritarian leadership on work outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected on 552 supervisor-subordinate dyads from the United Arab Emirates. A series of research hypotheses were tested using a mixed-method statistical approach, including CFA and moderated hierarchical regression analysis.

Findings

As predicted, authoritarian leadership exerts negative impact on subordinates' job satisfaction and performance through poor quality LMX and weak employee organizational embeddedness. Both LMX and employee embeddedness mediated the negative relationship between authoritarian leadership and outcome measures while power distance moderated the relationship of authoritarian leadership with LMX and employee organizational embeddedness. Low power distance orientation was found to exacerbate the negative impact of authoritarian leadership on the quality of both LMX relationships and employee embeddedness.

Research limitations/implications

The study shares limitations of most studies cast in the survey research design.

Practical implications

The findings underscore the importance of work environment in nurturing high quality LMX relationships and employee organizational embeddedness to buffer the negative effect of authoritarian leadership on subordinates' job satisfaction and performance. In high power distance cultures where workplace inequality is largely rationalized, subordinates who perceive their leaders as authoritarian tend to show low job satisfaction and poor in-role performance. These findings illustrate the importance of management intervention in the early stage of recruitment and selection to attract managers receptive to egalitarian leadership approaches who can equip subordinates with appropriate resources to enhance their job satisfaction and performance outcomes.

Originality/value

The study offers valuable new insights into the mechanism by which authoritarian leadership influences work outcomes in a high-power distance culture. It represents first systematic effort in the Middle Eastern context to identify the conditions that mediate the linkage between authoritarian leadership and work outcomes. The study adds value to the literature by investigating the moderating role of power distance at the individual level of analysis. It detects significant differences in subordinates' perception of power inequality in the workplace in a culture viewed as a high-power distance culture and illustrates how such differences in turn shape the quality of LMX and employee organizational embeddedness.

Leading Teachers' Emotions Like Parents: Relationships Between Paternalistic Leadership, Emotional Labor and Teacher Commitment in China

Emotional labor plays an essential role in school leadership and teaching, as principals and teachers undergo complex interactions with students, colleagues, and parents. Although researchers have realized the influence of leaders’ behaviors on followers’ emotions in management and educational contexts, the relationship between leadership behaviors, teachers’ emotional labor, and related organizational outcomes has been underexplored. As leadership and emotional labor are situated and influenced by cultural contexts, the current study focused on the relationship between teachers’ emotional labor strategies, multidimensional teacher commitment, and paternalistic leadership, a unique leadership type rooted in Confucianism. Paternalistic leadership is a style that combines strong authority with fatherly benevolence, which is prevalent in East Asia and the Middle East. A sample of 419 teachers was randomly selected to participate in a survey. The results showed that principals’ authoritarian leadership behaviors had negative influences on teachers’ commitment to the profession and commitment to the school. Benevolent leadership had positive effects on teachers’ commitment to students, commitment to the profession, and commitment to the school. Teachers’ deep acting played positive mediating effects, while surface acting was a negative mediator. The results imply that school leaders could properly exert parent-like leadership practices to facilitate teacher commitment through managing teachers’ emotions.

Authoritarian Leadership in Organizational Change and Employees' Active Reactions: Have-to and Willing-to Perspectives

Although prior studies have found the negative relation of authoritarian leadership with workplace outcome, authoritarian leadership styles are particularly prevalent in emerging markets. This study examines the effectiveness of authoritarian leadership in organizational change by considering two boundary conditions: low perceived job mobility among employees in have-to exchange situations and high cognitive trust in leaders in willing-to exchange situations. Based on a sample of 203 employees and their supervisors in 39 work teams in China, multilevel modeling identified a negative impact of authoritarian leadership on employees' active support for organizational change. However, this negative effect disappeared when perceived job mobility was low and cognitive trust in the leader was high. The findings offer insights into the prevalence of authoritarian leadership in emerging markets despite negative impressions of this leadership style (Harms et al., 2018).

Motives relate to cooperation in social dilemmas but have an inconsistent association with leadership evaluation

A common assumption is that good leaders are driven by a power motive that motivates them to influence others. However, leaders need to restrain themselves in social dilemmas where cooperation maximizes collective outcomes. We theorize that in social dilemmas, a desire for positive relationships (affiliation motive) is more beneficial than a power motive because it draws attention away from short-term self-interest towards understanding others. In a game of Settlers of Catan in the laboratory, we find that a functional variant of the affiliation motive relates to verbal encouragement of cooperation, to fewer occurrences of oil spills, to higher ratings of transformational leadership and, in a field survey, to fewer selfish business decisions. Furthermore, a dysfunctional variant of the power motive relates to two of three indicators of selfishness. Group members perceive selfish individuals as assuming leadership roles which indirectly relates to slightly higher ratings of transformational leadership. This pattern of evaluation may privilege men who, on average, show more selfish behaviour which can be partially attributed to their motives. Mere awareness of gender-based discrimination does not enable raters to circumvent this pattern of evaluation. This work suggests a need for interventions that increase appreciation of cooperative leaders.