The Journal of applied psychology
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Meta Analysis
Meta-analytic and primary investigations of the role of followers in ratings of leadership behavior in organizations.
Leader-centric views of leadership tend to regard followers as passive recipients of leaders' influences. As such, researchers often control for follower characteristics (e.g., age, gender, organizational tenure) when examining relations between leadership behaviors and other variables. However, reversing-the-lens theory suggests that followers' characteristics represent substantive factors that may affect how they perceive their leaders or how leaders behave toward different followers. ⋯ In addition, other findings imply that relations between some follower characteristics (e.g., gender, neuroticism) and leadership ratings are likely to be due to perceptual differences associated with these follower characteristics. However, actual leader behaviors also appear to play a role, such that leaders tend to behave differently toward followers who possess high or low levels of certain characteristics (e.g., agreeableness). Taken together, this two-study investigation provides evidence that follower individual differences are related to ratings of leader behaviors and, thus, deserve more attention within leadership theory and research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Supervisor support training effects on veteran health and work outcomes in the civilian workplace.
This randomized controlled trial involved the development and evaluation of a supervisor support training intervention in the civilian workforce called VSST: Veteran-Supportive Supervisor Training. A theoretically based intervention in the workplace is critical to ensuring a smooth transition for service members and their families to civilian life, leading to improved psychological and physical health and improved work outcomes among service members. Thirty-five organizations were recruited and randomized to the VSST training program or a waitlist control group. ⋯ The results did not show evidence of direct effects of the intervention on health and work outcomes. Qualitative data from supervisors who took the training also demonstrated the benefits of the training. This study affirms and adds to the literature on the positive effects of organizational programs that train supervisors to provide social support, thereby improving health and work outcomes of employees who receive more support. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).
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This study utilizes social-cognitive theory, humble leadership theory, and the behavioral ethics literature to theoretically develop the concept of leader moral humility and its effects on followers. Specifically, we propose a theoretical model wherein leader moral humility and follower implicit theories about morality interact to predict follower moral efficacy, which in turn increases follower prosocial behavior and decreases follower unethical behavior. ⋯ We test and find support for our theoretical model using two multiwave studies with Eastern (Study 1) and Western (Study 2) samples. Furthermore, we demonstrate that leader moral humility predicts follower moral efficacy and moral behaviors above and beyond the effects of ethical leadership and leader general humility. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).
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Studies show that abusive leader behaviors "trickle down" to lower organizational levels, but this research ignores that many abused supervisors do not perpetuate abuse by harming their own subordinates. Drawing on social-cognitive theory and related research, we suggest abused supervisors might defy rather than emulate their managers' abusive behavior. ⋯ Across 2 experiments (n = 288 and 462 working adults, respectively) and a field study (n = 500 employees and their supervisors), we show that relations between manager abuse and supervisors' abusive and ethical behaviors were carried by supervisors' disidentification, and that the direct and indirect effects of manager abuse were stronger for supervisors with comparatively higher moral identity levels. We discuss our findings' implications and avenues for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).