No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
Destrudo-L: Development of a short scale designed to measure destructive leadership behaviours in a military context
Leadership & Organization Development Journal
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop a short and easy to use yet psychometrically sound instrument designed to measure destructive leadership behaviours in a military context.
Design/methodology/approach
First, examples of destructive leadership behaviours in a military context were collected using a qualitative approach. Second, these examples were operationalised and pilot tested, which resulted in a 20‐item questionnaire called Destrudo‐L. Third, data were collected from three Swedish military groups ( n =428). Dimensionality of the instrument was analysed using structural equation modelling. Conventional psychometric assessments of reliability and validity were performed.
Findings
A nested hierarchical model with a general factor and the following specific factors emerged: arrogant, unfair; threats, punishments, overdemands; ego‐oriented, false; passive, cowardly; and uncertain, unclear, messy. Meaningful subgroup differences and relationships with a criterion variable (lack of motivation/propensity to leave) were found. More use of active forms was reported by subordinates of younger military commanders and more use of passive forms was marked by subordinates of senior military managers.
Practical implications
The instrument is easy to administer and interpret (norm values are provided) and can be used in leader evaluation, as well as leader development, contexts.
Originality/value
The main contribution is methodological – the development of a new scale. Additional findings are a strong positive correlation between active and passive forms of destructive leadership behaviours in a military context, as well as significant differences between groups with different ranks.
... Destructive leadership is observed at all levels, reducing job retention, commitment, and job satisfaction (Dobbs & Do, 2019;Larsson et al., 2012;Reed & Bullis, 2009). Toxic leadership is linked to organizational cynicism, where employees lose faith in improvement and evaluate leaders negatively (Dobbs & Do, 2019). ...
... Toxic leadership is linked to organizational cynicism, where employees lose faith in improvement and evaluate leaders negatively (Dobbs & Do, 2019). Interestingly, higher-ranking personnel report fewer instances of destructive leadership (Larsson et al., 2012). ...
... Furthermore, toxic leadership, such as harassment and patronizing behavior (Dobbs & Do, 2019;Larsson et al., 2012;Reed & Bullis, 2009), influences the possibilities for reflective dialogues and mutual learning. Subordinates exposed to toxic leadership do not experience organizational protection, undermining their trust in leadership (Dobbs & Do, 2019). ...
Western military organizations face an increasingly complex landscape of threats and challenges from immense changes in the international security situation. At the same time, they are experiencing still more political and societal demands. Designing and implementing policies to meet these numerous and multifaceted demands call for effective, efficient, and legitimate public administration. Public administration research in military organizations is scarce. This article explores how critical characteristics of military organizations impact policy design and implementation within these organizations. Based on a systematic review of contemporary literature on specific military characteristics, the study identifies critical characteristics of military organizations related to structure, culture, profession, leadership, and management. Furthermore, strengths and challenges related to policy design and implementation in a military context are analyzed and discussed. The article argues that military organizations must scrutinize and strengthen their policy design and implementation efforts. Lastly, the article points to future research agendas.
... Einarsen et al. (2007) provided a broader definition of DLB, which became the generally accepted definition: "The systematic and repeated behaviour by a leader, supervisor or manager that violates the legitimate interest of the organisation by undermining and/or sabotaging the organisation's goals, tasks, resources, and effectiveness and/or the motivation, well-being or job satisfaction of subordinates." Larsson et al. (2012) consolidated the context and definition of these researchers and developed the Destrudo-L to measure both active and passive forms of DLB within a military environment. ...
... A research instrument composed of the MLQ-5X, and Destrudo-L asked participants to measure, on a Likert scale, a series of leadership behaviors of their most recent direct supervisor. The MLQ-5X measured the nine elements of the Full Range of Leadership, which composed transformational, transactional, and passive-avoidant leadership styles (Avolio & Bass, 2004), while the Destrudo-L (included as Appendix A), measured five elements of DLB, which composed active and passive DLB (Larsson et al., 2012). Higher scores indicated respondents experienced a higher incidence of the behavior. ...
... The Quality Assurance Office deidentified survey responses and provided the data with Likert scale responses represented numerically. Individual question responses were consolidated into the five domain scores in Figure 1, according to instructions from the original research (Avolio & Bass, 2004;Larsson et al., 2012). The mean scores, standard deviations, and variable ranges are presented in Table 1. ...
Background: The Air Force uses the full range of leadership model (transformational, transactional, and passive-avoidant leadership) to develop leaders. However, there has been less research at how the leadership styles in the full range of leadership model are related to destructive leadership behavior, evidenced by adverse administrative actions. Objective: Conduct a pilot study using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire and Destrudo-L in tandem, within a smaller population of Air Force Professional Military Education students, to determine if, and to what degree, a relationship existed between leadership styles and destructive leadership behaviors. Methods: The MLQ-5X and Destrudo-L research instruments were used to collect data from a population sample of the Air Force field grade officers attending professional military education (n = 22). The MLQ-5X measured leadership styles, and the Destrudo-L measured destructive leadership behaviors. Results: Linear regressions measured the relationships between leadership styles and destructive leadership behavior and all regressions found p ≤ 0.005. Transformational leadership behaviors were negatively related to both passive (B = −1.36) and active (B = −0.86) destructive leadership behaviors. Transactional leadership behaviors were also negatively related to both passive (B = −1.3) and active (B = −0.83) destructive leadership behaviors. However, passive-avoidant leadership behaviors had a positive relationship with passive (B = 1.21) and active (B = 0.68) destructive leadership behaviors. Conclusion: This pilot study found a relationship between leadership styles and destructive leadership behavior. However, the cross-sectional design, small population within a single officer rank, setting of a competitive in-residence Professional Military Education course, limit the generalizability of the findings.
... As per the previously stated RQs and hypotheses, each variable will be measured using a validated instrument. The following instruments will be used to test each hypothesis: i) Predictor Variable: Dimensions of destructive leadership construct (arrogant, unfair; threats, punishments, over-demands; ego-oriented, false; passive, cowardly; and uncertain, unclear, messy) will be measured using the Destrudo-L, 20-item questionnaire developed by Larsson et al. (2012). ii) Predictor Variable: Dimensions of constructive leadership construct (exemplary model; individualized consideration; and inspiration and motivation) will be measured using the Developmental Leadership Questionnaire (DLQ) by Larsson (2006). ...
... The Destrudo-L questionnaire was used to measure the dimensions of the destructive leadership construct(arrogant, unfair; threats, punishments, over-demands; ego-oriented, false; passive, cowardly; and uncertain, unclear, messy). The research data collected from this questionnaire was analyzed to answer the first and third research question of this study.The Destrudo-L questionnaire was developed byLarsson et al. (2012) to be used as a measure of destructive leadership behavior in a military context. Larsson et al.(2012) followed three steps to develop the survey: 1) used a qualitative methodology to collect examples of destructive leadership behaviors in a military environment; 2) operationalized and pilot tested the examples, leading to a 20-item questionnaire named Destrudo-L; 3) used the questionnaire to collect data from three Swedish military groups (N = 428). ...
... Validity of the instruments used in this study has been established through previous studies.The Destrudo-L instrument was assessed for validity using conventional psychometric assessments. According withLarsson et al. (2012) factors that affect the validity of an instrument are: its association with criterion-related measures, and how it discriminates between responders.Larsson et al. (2012) wanted to create a short and easy survey with psychometrically properties to measure destructive leadership behaviors in a military environment; to do so, Larsson et al. (2012) used a qualitative approach to collect examples of destructive leadership behaviors in a military context, operationalized them, and pilot tested them, resulting in a 20-item questionnaire that was named Destrudo-L. Larsson et al. (2012) collected data from three Swedish military groups and used a structural equation model to analyze the dimensionality of the instrument. ...
The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to examine if and to what extent the dimensions of destructive leadership construct (arrogant, unfair; threats, punishments, over-demands; ego-oriented, false; passive, cowardly; and uncertain, unclear, messy) and constructive leadership construct (exemplary model; individualized consideration; and inspiration and motivation) have an effect on predicting service members’ likelihood of commitment to military service for US military active-duty service members. The Destructive-Constructive Leadership (DCL) model, developmental leadership model, and Net Promoter Score provided the theoretical foundation for the study. The study examined the extent to which the dimensions of the destructive leadership construct and constructive leadership construct separately and together have an effect on predicting service members’ likelihood of commitment to military service for US military active-duty service members. A Qualtrics survey was completed by a sample target population (N = 963) of active-duty service members of the United States military who met the criteria of currently serving full time in any military branch of the United States. The study used a quantitative methodology, correlational design, and ordinal logistic regression for data analysis. The results indicated that the dimensions of constructive leadership, exemplary model (p = .001) and inspiration and motivation (p < .001) predict active-duty service members’ likelihood of commitment to military service in the United States military. The other dimensions were not statistically significant.
Keywords: Destructive leadership, constructive Leadership, commitment.
... Although the definition of destructive leadership is debated, there is an increased consensus that both active and passive destructive behaviours are harmful for employees and should, therefore, be considered as destructive (Skogstad et al., 2007;Thoroughgood et al., 2018). Active destructive behaviours refer to the extent to which leaders engage in hostile verbal and non-verbal behaviours (Tepper, 2000) such as threats, punishments, arrogance and over demands (Larsson et al., 2012). Passive destructive behaviours incorporate avoidant and messy behaviours, where the leader fails to respond to their follower requests, are absent when needed, or is unable to provide structure to employees (Larsson et al., 2012). ...
... Active destructive behaviours refer to the extent to which leaders engage in hostile verbal and non-verbal behaviours (Tepper, 2000) such as threats, punishments, arrogance and over demands (Larsson et al., 2012). Passive destructive behaviours incorporate avoidant and messy behaviours, where the leader fails to respond to their follower requests, are absent when needed, or is unable to provide structure to employees (Larsson et al., 2012). Active and passive destructive behaviours are often studied in isolation and in separate studies. ...
... Active destructive leadership was measured using two subscales from the Destrudo-L questionnaire (Larsson et al., 2012): arrogant/unfair (e.g., 'is unpleasant') and threats/punishment/excessive demands (e.g., 'shows violent tendencies'). Each subscale included four items. ...
Complementing previous research on antecedents of destructive leadership, we examined the role of work stressors in the emergence of active and passive destructive leadership behaviours. Building on conservation of resources theory, we examined direct and indirect relations between leaders’ perceptions of workload, role ambiguity and intragroup conflict on ratings of their own destructive leadership, as well as mediating paths through perceived stress. We used a two‐wave survey design consisting of a random sample of 1311 managers. Structural equation modelling revealed that work stressors were only related to passive forms of destructive leadership, whereas personality was related to both active and passive forms of destructive leadership. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
... decreased productivity and subversion) as a mechanism for coping with dysfunctional leaders (Burton and Hoobler, 2006); psychological distress, such as emotional exhaustion (Aryee et al., 2008); and greater work-life conflict (Tepper, 2000). Whereas the consequences dysfunctional leaders on the organizational level can be particularly costly and damaging to organization and may include higher employee intentions to leave, turnover, high rates of absenteeism, low performance, increased conflict levels, and decreased employee engagement (Larsson et al., 2012;Tr epanier et al., 2019). ...
... The influence of dysfunctional leadership runs counter to an organization's interests, and ultimately the cost that this incurs has received considerable attention from some scholars over the past decade (e.g. Abalkhail, 2021;Larsson et al., 2012;Pelletier et al., 2019;Tr epanier et al., 2019). For example, many studies have found that dysfunctional leadership adversely affects employees' performance and productivity, which is considered an essential element to organizational effectiveness (e.g. ...
... Reducing productivity and lowering performance levels are linked to employees responding to their dysfunctional leaders indirectly by shifting their behavior toward the organizations or other units such as teams (Burton and Hoobler, 2006). Furthermore, studies have shown a direct relation between dysfunctional leadership and employee turnover (Ashforth, 1994;Larsson et al., 2012). Dysfunctional leaders have a severely negative impact on employees' career and health, leading to increased turnover rates, absenteeism, and legal actions (Brandebo et al., 2016), which, as Tepper et al. (2006) underscored, could lead to high financial costs for organizations. ...
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the experiences of employees who are exposed to dysfunctional behaviors by their leaders in a healthcare organization.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employed a qualitative methodology drawing on 25 semi-structured interviews with administrative and clinical employees working in a healthcare setting operating in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Findings
This study’s findings provide insights into dysfunctional leadership phenomena based on employees’ personal experiences with dysfunctional leaders. Dysfunctional leaders have several harmful behaviors, such as behaving in abusive ways, marginalizing others, engaging in favoritism, and degrading employees. This study also demonstrated that the leaders’ negative behavior directly influences employees to leave their jobs, contributes to feelings of alienation at work, reduces their commitment, and frequently creates serious psychological and physical problems. This study also discovered that over time the negative effects of a dysfunctional leader do not stop at employees; it also filters through to other areas such as the organizational environment and family life.
Originality/value
Dysfunctional leadership is under-studied within the context of the Middle Eastern region. Therefore, this study’s findings provide theoretical and practical implications. It provides information about employee experiences and how dysfunctional behavior influences individuals and, ultimately, organizational life. Furthermore, this study has value to practitioners by offering suggestions for organizational interventions for creating more effective policies and programs to support employees’ careers and well-being.
... 208). Destructive leaders are characterized as aloof and cold, and breach their subordinates' trust (Larsson et al., 2012;Thoroughgood et al., 2012). ...
... There are diverse conceptualizations of destructive leadership; for instance, it has been conceptualized as multidimensional (Krasikova et al., 2013;Larsson et al., 2012): ego-oriented, arrogant, over-demanding, punishing, threatening, and unfair (which is referred to as direct and active destructive leadership), and messy, cowardly, passive, uncertain, and unclear (indirect and passive destructive leadership). Others, conversely, claim that destructive leadership is a unified construct (Tepper, 2000). ...
... Destructive leadership was measured at Time-1 using self-reports by a 20-item Destrudo-L instrument developed by Larsson et al. (2012). Respondents were asked to respond by keeping in mind how they had been exposed to such negative behaviours by their supervisor over the past six months. ...
Utilizing the cognitive appraisal theory of stress and coping, we examined the combined effects of destructive leadership and Dark Triad personality on revenge and employee outcomes (happiness and psychological detachment). Adopting a time‐lagged research design (three time lags), we collected data from 288 employees from the service sector in Pakistan. Using Process technique, our findings showed that revenge mediated the destructive leadership and outcomes relationship. We also found that the impact of destructive leadership on revenge was more substantial for individuals having high Dark Triad personality. The results supported our moderated mediation hypothesis, proving that revenge mediates the relationship between destructive leadership and outcomes for individuals with a high Dark Triad Personality. Dans cet article, nous utilisons la théorie de l’évaluation cognitive du stress et de l'adaptation pour examiner les effets combinés du leadership destructeur et de la personnalité de la Triade sombre sur la vengeance et les réactions des employés (bonheur et détachement psychologique). Grâce à un modèle de recherche échelonné dans le temps (trois décalages temporels), nous avons recueilli des données auprès de deux cent quatre‐vingt‐huit (n = 288) employés du secteur des services au Pakistan. Les résultats obtenus grâce à la technique de Preacher et Hayes indiquent que la vengeance influence la relation entre le leadership destructeur et les réactions des employés. En outre, l'impact du leadership destructeur sur la vengeance est plus important chez les personnes qui, dans la Triade sombre, ont une personnalité forte. Ces résultats confirment notre hypothèse concernant la médiation modérée et prouvent que la vengeance a un effet modérateur sur la relation entre le leadership destructeur et les résultats chez les personnes, qui, dans la Triade sombre, ont une forte personnalité.
... Most researchers agree that destructive leadership includes several dimensions (Skogstad et al., 2017;Schmid et al., 2018). However, little is still known about whether these dimensions also form, and can be understood, in terms of a global destructive leadership factor with subdimensions, or if they are, in fact, distinct behavioral clusters (Tepper, 2007;Larsson et al., 2012). Likewise, there is a lack of knowledge concerning differences and similarities in the associations among the dimensions of destructive leadership, employe, and organizational outcomes (Mackey et al., 2019;Trépanier et al., 2019). ...
... Based on the above, the aim of the present paper is threefold: first, to examine the structural validity of a multidimensional destructive leadership measure, Destrudo-L (Larsson et al., 2012). Destrudo-L is a measure that incorporates several dimensions of destructive leadership and was initially developed for use in a Scandinavian military setting (Larsson et al., 2012;Fors Brandebo et al., 2016). ...
... Based on the above, the aim of the present paper is threefold: first, to examine the structural validity of a multidimensional destructive leadership measure, Destrudo-L (Larsson et al., 2012). Destrudo-L is a measure that incorporates several dimensions of destructive leadership and was initially developed for use in a Scandinavian military setting (Larsson et al., 2012;Fors Brandebo et al., 2016). We explore whether it is also applicable as a measure to evaluate destructive leadership behaviors in a general work context. ...
There is a growing awareness that destructive leadership has a significant negative impact on employe outcomes. However, little is known about the content and dimensionality of this multidimensional concept, and there are few reliable measures available for organizations and researchers to evaluate these behaviors. Based on a representative sample (N = 1132) of the Swedish workforce, the aim of this study is threefold: first, to examine the factor structure and validity of an easy-to-use multidimensional destructive leadership measure (Destrudo-L)in the general Swedish work context; second, to identify destructive leadership profiles using latent profile analysis (LPA), and determine in what way they are related to employe outcomes; third, to examine the prevalence of destructive leadership using population weights to estimate responses of a population total in the Swedish workforce (N = 3100282). Our analysis supported the structural validity of Destrudo-L, reflecting both a global factor and specific subdimensions. We identified seven unique destructive leadership profiles along a passive and active continuum of destructive leadership behaviors, with the active showing a less favorable relation to employe outcomes. Finally, we found that a substantial proportion of the Swedish workforce report being exposed to destructive leadership (36.4–43.5%, depending on method used). Active destructive leadership was more common in the public sector and passive destructive leadership in the private. Given the potentially severe effects and the commonness of these behaviors, we argue that organizations should work actively with strategies to identify and intervene, to prevent and to handle the manifestation of these harmful behaviors.
... The remainder of the chapter is structured as follows: First, we present the typology of destructive and constructive leadership (DLC) model as the conceptual framework. Following the DCL model, we provide detailed information concerning each of the seven destructive leadership instruments (Balwant, Birdi, & Stephan, 2020;Einarsen, Skogstad, Aasland, & Loseth, 2002;Larsson, Brandebo, & Nilsson, 2012;Lu, Ling, Wu, & Lin, 2012;) generated from a systematic review. Third, we include and briefly discuss the well-known tools of tyrannical, abusive and toxic leadership scales (TLSs). ...
... Destrudo-L Questionnaire of Nilsson (2012) Larsson et al. (2012) tried to develop a short and easy-to-use scale for assessing the destructive leadership behaviours, particularly in a military context. In developing the instrument, the authors initially collected data by using a qualitative approach in which the soldier respondents were asked to write down examples of bad military leadership behaviours. ...
... The authors also confirmed the overall one-factor structure (G-factor) of the instrument. Larsson et al. (2012) note that the Destrudo-L instrument is superior to other measures as it contains fewer items and is easy to administer and interpret. Moreover, they also argue that the same instrument could be used in 360-degree leader evaluation and evaluation contexts as well. ...
... Some scholars divide destructive leadership behaviours into active and passive forms (Einarsen et al., 2007;Larsson et al., 2012). Active behaviours include, for example, arrogance, unfairness, threatening or punishing subordinates. ...
... This study contributes to knowledge that indicates that perceptions of leadership behaviours are related to contextual conditions. Comparing the behaviours identified in this study with other concepts of negative leadership reveals that most of the behaviours are also known in other contexts (Einarsen et al., 2007;Larsson et al., 2012;Tepper, 2000). However, three behaviours are not as highlighted in previous studies: over-controlling, does not involve others; becomes stressed, loses control; and does not show respect and understanding. ...
... Researchers often sort destructive leadership behaviours into active and passive forms (see, e.g. Einarsen et al., 2007;Larsson et al., 2012). Categorising the identified behaviours in the study into task-and relationship-related behaviours contributes to support for how leaders can be perceived as successful and effective while at the same time being destructive towards subordinates. ...
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to increased knowledge of destructive leadership in crisis management. The specific research questions are: (1) What types of destructive leadership behaviours can be identified in leaders in crisis management? and (2) Why are these behaviours considered destructive in this context?
Design/methodology/approach
About 21 informants involved in crisis management at regional, local and operational levels in Sweden were interviewed. They were selected since they had recently been involved in severe accidents and/or crises (e.g. terror attacks, forest fires). A grounded theory analysis of interview data yielded two core variables: destructive leadership behaviours, and appraisal: interpretation of leader behaviour.
Findings
The study identified seven different destructive leadership behaviours: four task-related and three relationship-related. Task-related behaviours primarily led to negative consequences for the task/crisis. Relationship-related behaviours have negative consequences for subordinates' job satisfaction, well-being and/or sense of meaningfulness. The paper relates the identified behaviours to existing leadership ideals within crisis management and discusses behaviours that appear to be unique for the crisis management context.
Practical implications
The paper highlights the fact that great crisis managers are not always good at managing relationships, which may have negative implications for crisis management in the long term.
Originality/value
Destructive leadership is a research field that is rapidly expanding. However, there is a lack of knowledge concerning the nature of destructive leadership behaviours and what makes an individual appraise a leader as destructive in crisis management.
... The primary instrument found to measure passive forms of destructive leadership was the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (87% of the studies, see Table 1), though different versions of it were applied. Three of the studies used the instrument, Destrudo L, which is specifically designed to measure destructive leadership behaviour in the military context and includes both active and passive forms of destructive leadership (Fors Brandebo et al., 2016;Johansen & Platek, 2017;Larsson, Fors Brandebo, & Nilsson, 2012). ...
... Bass and Yammarino (1991) found that subordinate ratings of laissezfaire leadership were negatively related to superior-rated performance and superior-rated early promotion. Nine studies (33%) examined factors related to subordinate well-being and health (Britt, and behavioural outcomes among subordinates (Bass et al., 2003;Chi & Liang, 2013;Chou et al., 2015;Cole & Bedeian, 2007;Duffy et al., 2006;Fors Brandebo et al., 2016;Gallus et al., 2013;Hannah et al., 2013;Johansen & Platek, 2017;Larsson et al., 2012;Reed & Bullis, 2009;Roush & Atwater, 1992;Schiena et al., 2013;Yammarino & Bass, 1990;Yammarino et al., 1993;Zellars et al., 2002). As an example, in a study of 2572 military employees, Hannah et al. (2013) found that abusive supervision was negatively related to the moral courage of followers and their identification with the core values of the organisation. ...
... Moreover, current studies primarily use context-free instruments to examine destructive leadership in the military context. This raises the question of the expediency of context-specific versus context-free measurements (Larsson et al., 2012). As the basic principles and definition for leadership in the non-military and military contexts are similar, the use of context-free instruments in military settings would allow for comparisons with civil organisations. ...
Since the turn of the millennium, a growing academic interest has emerged regarding the dark side of leadership, both in general and specific contexts. Characteristics of military organisations may either reduce or exaggerate the prevalence and impact of destructive leadership. It is therefore pertinent to explore antecedents and outcomes of destructive leadership in the military context as compared to other settings. Here, we systematically reviewed the current literature and performed a meta-analysis of destructive forms of leadership in a military context. The reviewed studies (K = 27) primarily employed context-free instruments, applied cross-sectional designs, and examined outcomes of destructive leadership. Both active (e.g., abusive supervision) and passive (e.g., laissez-faire) forms of destructive leadership were examined in the meta-analysis (K = 22, N = 10,716). The mean correlation to performance, attitude, health, and well-being was −.29 for active destructive leadership, −.29 for passive forms of destructive leadership and, in comparison, .32 for constructive and effective forms of leadership. Our findings demonstrate that passive and active forms of destructive leadership in a military context may contribute equally to detrimental outcomes, and that successful strategies to prevent and handle consequences of destructive leadership must address both forms of unwanted leadership behaviour. OPEN ACCESS; For full text included supplementary material, please see: https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2019.1634550
... A review of approaches to defining the essence of destructive leadership reveals that researcher, alongside terms such as "tyrannical leadership," "toxic leadership," "destructive leadership," "despotic leadership," and "anti-organizational leadership," have identified both commonalities and differences in describing and interpreting this phenomenon. Domestic and foreign researchers have examined the features of destructive behavior among leaders within interpersonal interactions and its impact on the effectiveness of joint activities [4,[8][9][10][11][12]. ...
... Destrudo-L Questionnaire [12], comprising 20 statements designed to identify forms of destructive leadership manifestations in military collectives; A questionnaire to determine the significance of destructive leadership manifestations, which presented the 20 statements from the previous questionnaire for ranking these manifestations. ...
The modern scientific and theoretical studies on leadership issues in military collectives have been analyzed and summarized. Forms of destructive leadership that may manifest in the professional activities of National Guard of Ukraine personnel have been identified and proposed. The attitudes of military personnel with different sociometric statuses towards manifestations of destructive leadership in military collectives have been highlighted.
... includes the following four changes: (1) the addition of the interactional person-situation paradigm (Endler and Magnusson, 1976); (2) an expansion of laissez-faire leadership to a system of destructive leadership behaviors (Larsson et al., 2012); (3) a division of a conventional leadership dimension into two positive and two negative factors has yielded higher reliability scores than has usually been found in research on transactional leadership without such a subdivision and (4) the concept of charisma, which is central in the writings on transformational leadership, was regarded as unsuitable in an egalitarian Scandinavian leadership culture because here it appears to evoke negative associations of elitism and a glorifying of the leader. This means that Yammarino's (1993) claim that charisma is a necessary but not sufficient condition for transformational leadership, can be highly questioned and even be seen as counterproductive in the Scandinavian context. ...
... Our main suggestion for further research is to continue exploring the relationship between developmental/transformational leadership and instrumental leadership in different organizational contexts using both variableoriented and person-centered study approaches. It is also desirable to include the transactional dimension of the FRLT model (Bass, 1985), as well as indicators of the dark side of leadership (cf. the writings on destructive leadership by Einarsen et al., 2007;Fors Brandebo et al., 2016;Larsson et al., 2012). Yammarino, F.S. (1993) ...
Purpose
The aim of this study was twofold, first to examine the relationship between developmental leadership (a Scandinavian culture adapted version of transformational leadership) and instrumental leadership, as well as the relationship between these leadership variables and indices of performance and job satisfaction. Second, to identify individual patterns regarding developmental and instrumental leadership.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a longitudinal design, questionnaire data were collected three times among Swedish conscripts and voluntarily employed soldiers during their basic military training (n = 667 at T1, n = 503 at T2 and n = 554 at T3).
Findings
The main findings were: (1) high observed correlations between the developmental and instrumental leadership scales on all measurement occasions; (2) a low to moderate amount of explained variance explained by these leadership scales in regression analyses with performance and job satisfaction as dependent variables, where developmental leadership was strongly associated with ratings of job satisfaction and instrumental leadership accounted for a higher proportion of the variance on ratings of performance and (3) the identification of three distinct profiles of response patterns on the leadership scales, which were fairly similar across time and indicate a temporal consistency of leadership styles.
Research limitations/implications
Methodological strengths include the longitudinal study design, the comparatively large sample size, the use of well-established measurement scales and the person-centered approach allowing for the identification of response patterns. Study weaknesses include too few background variables and the use of self-report ratings only. From a work and organizational perspective, the sample with low-level conscripts and soldiers could also be regarded as unusual.
Practical implications
Education of leaders should focus on the importance of both interpersonal and instrumental aspects. There is also a need for development of leadership training fostering leaders’ instrumental leadership skills.
Originality/value
The study responds to the call from leadership researchers to further research on instrumental leadership and its relationship to the FRLT across diverse organizational contexts. Longitudinal comparisons of developmental (transformational) and instrumental leadership resulted in more trustworthy results as both a variable-oriented and a person-oriented approach was used.
... Within this realm, DL manifests in various structural forms. As per Einarsen et al. (2007) and Larsson et al. (2012), these forms can be categorized as active or passive. Active behaviors encompass traits such as arrogance, unfairness, and intimidating or disciplining subordinates. ...
... Active behaviors encompass traits such as arrogance, unfairness, and intimidating or disciplining subordinates. Passive behavioral patterns highlight leader qualities like disinterest, avoidance of conflict, or poor planning skills (Larsson et al., 2012). Active behaviors are systematic and deliberate, while passive forms indicate deficiencies in leaders' work and responsibilities (Einarsen et al., 2007). ...
Destructive leadership, a prevalent negative behavior in modern organizations, continues to captivate the interest of scholars and professionals due to its detrimental aftermath. Drawing from social psychological (culture) and conservation of resources theory, we explore the moderating impact of psychological power distance on the link between destructive leadership and emotional exhaustion. The main contribution of this study is that it has created new information about the moderating role of some specific sub-dimensions of psychological power distance (e.g., hierarchy, prestige) in the relationship between destructive leadership and emotional exhaustion. Our findings also reveal a positive correlation between a destructive leadership style and emotional exhaustion. Furthermore, the prestige aspect of psychological power distance amplifies the influence of deficient leadership abilities and unethical conduct on emotional exhaustion. Notably, our study highlights that in the Turkish context, characterized by high power distance, and escalating hierarchies the impact of nepotism disparities on emotional exhaustion. In conclusion, these novel insights underscore a significant research avenue regarding cultural facets.
... A wealth of research shows that developmental and conventional-positive leadership behaviors covary with various favorable individual and organizational outcomes (Bass and Riggio, 2006;Diaz-S aenz, 2011). Other studies indicate even more strongly that destructive leadership covaries with negative outcomes Larsson et al., 2012;Skogstad et al., 2007). To the degree that young leaders as a group act less in line with these general research findings than older leaders (as shown in the current study), it can be assumed that, at the group level, young peoples' leadership behaviors have a high potential for improvement. ...
... Sample item: "I keep a log of other people's mistakes." Finally, the destructive leadership style consists of 17 items designed to measure the two factors active destructive leadership and passive destructive leadership [incorporated into the DLQ from the instrument Destrudo-L,Larsson et al. (2012)]. Sample item: "I avoid making necessary decisions." ...
Purpose
The purpose of this study is twofold. First, to compare the self-rated leadership behaviors, leadership-related competencies and results of the leadership of younger, mid-aged and older leaders; and second to compare these aspects among younger leaders in different kinds of the work environment and between men and women.
Design/methodology/approach
Data was collected using the developmental leadership questionnaire from a sample of Swedish leadership course participants ( N = 7,743).
Findings
The results showed that the younger group of leaders (29 years old or younger n = 539), rated themselves more negatively than the mid-aged (30–50 years, n = 5,208) and older (51 years or older, n = 1,996) leaders. Analysis of the group of younger leaders showed that those working in the private sector scored most favorably. The gender comparison revealed that young male leaders scored higher on negative conventional (transactional) and destructive leadership behaviors. A logistic regression analysis of the younger group showed that social competence, developmental leadership and destructive leadership (negative) influenced self-rated results of leadership.
Research limitations/implications
The study is based on leaders’ self-ratings only.
Practical implications
The results can be used in leadership development contexts and in individualized coaching or mentoring programs.
Originality/value
The results have new implications for leadership theory related to self-confidence, stereotypes, selection and organizational culture.
... Sample item: 'I keep a log of other people's mistakes.' The Destructive leadership style finally, consists of 17 items design to measure the two factors Active destructive leadership and Passive destructive leadership (incorporated into the DLQ from the instrument Destrudo-L, Larsson, Fors Brandebo, & Nilsson, 2012). Sample item: 'I avoid making necessary decisions'. ...
... A richness of research shows that developmental and conventional-positive leadership behaviors covary with various favorable individual and organizational outcomes (Bass & Riggio, 2006;Diaz-Sáenz, 2011). Even stronger support showing that destructive leadership covaries with negative outcomes is available Larsson et al., 2012;Skogstad, Einarsen, Torsheim, Aasland, & Hetland, 2007). To the degree that women as a group act more in line with these general research findings than men, as partly shown in the current study, it can actually be assumed at the group level that women's leadership behaviors are more effective from an organizational point of view. ...
The aim of the study was to compare the self-rated leadership behaviors of men and women in female-dominated, male-dominated and mixed-gender work environments and make within-gender comparisons across these three contexts. Data was collected using the Developmental Leadership Questionnaire from a sample of Swedish leadership course participants (N = 1897). Female leaders rated themselves more favorably than male leaders in female- dominated and mixed-gender work environments. Only small gender differences were found in male-dominated settings. Women in female dominated and gender-mixed work environments reported more favorable self-ratings than women in male dominated contexts. Among male leaders, fewer differences were observed between different work environments. The results are discussed in terms of organizational culture, individual selection preferences and a rapidly growing proportion of women leaders in the Swedish labor market.
... We assessed followers' perceptions of their leader's destructive leadership using Destrudo-L [64]. Then, we included four subscales (two active destructive and two passive destructive), with four items each, in the global assessment of destructive leadership. ...
Background
Destructive leadership has been linked to negative consequences for both organizations and followers. Research has also shown that leader gender affects follower perceptions of leadership behavior and follower outcomes [1, 2–3]. However, knowledge is limited as to whether this also applies to destructive leadership [4]. This study aims to combine gendered organization theory with destructive leadership research to investigate the role that gender plays in the relation between destructive leadership behavior and follower outcomes.
Methods
The data were collected in collaboration with Statistic Sweden. It is a representative sample from the working population in Sweden. We used a two-wave survey design and included 1,121 participants in the analysis.
Results
The results from structural equation models indicated that destructive leadership has negative consequences for follower burnout, job satisfaction, and turnover intention 6 months later. The results also showed that followers reported a greater intention to leave the organization if the leader was the same gender and used destructive leadership.
Conclusions
Our study contributes to destructive leadership research by showing that the gender of both the leader and follower matters for the relation between destructive leadership behavior and follower outcomes. Additionally, our study makes a theoretical contribution by integrating a gender research perspective into destructive leadership research.
... Опитувальник з оцінювання проявів конструктивного лідерства складено на основі анкети оцінювання лідерів армії США [1], містить низку позитивних тверджень щодо управлінських проявів у колективах. Опитувальник з оцінювання проявів деструктивного лідерства є перекладом методики Destrudo-L Г. Ларссона [2]. Прояви лідерства військовослужбовці оцінювали за 5-бальними шкалами. ...
... First, we searched the reference sections from recent meta-analyses (i.e., Mackey et al., 2017Mackey et al., , 2019Mackey et al., , 2021Park et al., 2019;Schyns & Schilling, 2013;Zhang & Bednall, 2016) and reviews (i.e., Krasikova et al., 2013;Martinko et al., 2013;Tepper, 2007;Tepper et al., 2017) of destructive leadership for relevant primary studies to include in our data set. Second, we used Google Scholar to systematically search for studies that cited destructive leadership measure development papers (i.e., Cortina et al., 2001;Duffy et al., 2002;Larsson et al., 2012;Schmid et al., 2019;Shaw et al., 2011;Tepper, 2000;Thoroughgood et al., 2012). Third, we used Google Scholar to search for studies that included abusive, aversive, bullying, corrupt, derailed, despotic, destructive, evil, exploitative, incivility, insincere, insular, narcissistic, negative, personal (ized), charismatic, petty, pseudo-transformational, psychopathic, toxic, tyrannical, or undermining and supervision or leadership anywhere in the full text. ...
Prior organizational research has shown that destructive leadership adversely affects followers’ job satisfaction. However, we still have an incomplete understanding of why the strength of this relationship varies across contexts. In this study, we leverage implicit leadership theory to explain why cross-national differences in cultural values moderate this relationship. First, drawing on implicit leadership theory, we develop theory-based predictions about why the cultural value dimensions from the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) study explain differences in the strength of this relationship across countries. Then, we aggregate findings from 51 primary studies ( k = 51, N = 16,870) conducted across 12 countries to test our hypotheses. Our results indicate that the negative relationship between destructive leadership and job satisfaction weakens in magnitude as uncertainty avoidance, future orientation, power distance, and assertiveness values increase. Conversely, the negative relationship between destructive leadership and job satisfaction strengthens in magnitude as institutional collectivism, in-group collectivism, humane orientation, performance orientation, and gender egalitarianism values increase. We also demonstrate the independent, relative, and collective predictive validity of GLOBE’s cultural values as moderators of the relationship between destructive leadership and followers’ job satisfaction. Collectively, our findings (1) indicate that cross-national differences exist in the relationship between destructive leadership and followers’ job satisfaction and (2) highlight the need to consider destructive leadership in light of the broader cultural context in which it is being examined.
... Cronbach alpha: .85. Finally, the Destructive leadership style consists of five items designed to measure the two factors Active destructive leadership and Passive destructive leadership (incorporated into the DLQ from the instrument Destrudo-L; Larsson et al., 2012). Sample destructive leadership item: 'NN avoids making necessary decisions' . ...
A high number of military veterans seek professional help at primary healthcare centers for mental health problems. The main aim of this study was to map veterans’ perception of the quality of the care they received when seeking such help after their last tour of duty. A secondary aim was to explore personality and mission-related characteristics of veterans who seek professional help for mental health problems after missions. Questionnaire responses were obtained from 2512 Swedish veterans (43.4% response rate). Among the responders, 210 individuals had sought help for mental health problems at primary healthcare centers. Their perception of the quality of the healthcare was measured using the Quality from the Patient’s Perspective (QPP) questionnaire, which is derived from a theoretical model. Comparisons between the military help seekers and an age and gender matched group of civilian outpatients showed that the military group perceived the information they had received, and the commitment, empathy and respect shown by the physicians, considerably more negatively than the civilian patients. Comparisons between the help-seeking veterans and those who had not sought help, showed that the help seekers were younger and scored significantly lower on emotional stability and higher on conscientiousness. In addition, they perceived the leadership of their immediate commander during the last tour of duty more negatively and they reported fewer daily uplifts and more daily hassles during the tour. It was concluded that a more extensive collaboration between the armed forces and the healthcare system is strongly recommended and that it is necessary to provide education to healthcare providers.
... First, we searched the reference sections from recent meta-analyses (i.e., Mackey et al., 2017Mackey et al., , 2019Mackey et al., , 2021Park et al., 2019;Schyns & Schilling, 2013;Zhang & Bednall, 2016) and reviews (i.e., Krasikova et al., 2013;Martinko et al., 2013;Tepper, 2007;Tepper et al., 2017) of destructive leadership for relevant primary studies to include in our data set. Second, we used Google Scholar to systematically search for studies that cited destructive leadership measure development papers (i.e., Cortina et al., 2001;Duffy et al., 2002;Larsson et al., 2012;Schmid et al., 2019;Shaw et al., 2011;Tepper, 2000;Thoroughgood et al., 2012). Third, we used Google Scholar to search for studies that included abusive, aversive, bullying, corrupt, derailed, despotic, destructive, evil, exploitative, incivility, insincere, insular, narcissistic, negative, personal (ized), charismatic, petty, pseudo-transformational, psychopathic, toxic, tyrannical, or undermining and supervision or leadership anywhere in the full text. ...
... As for the perception of job characteristics, the study relied on a scale modeled after McDermott's (1984) work. In addition, we assessed the perception of destructive leadership using a scale adapted from Larsson et al.'s (2012) research. Work relationship perceptions were gauged using a measurement influenced by Carmeli et al.'s (2009) study. ...
... Description of the study group instrument Destrudo-L;Larsson et al., 2012). Sample destructive leadership item: "NN avoids making necessary decisions". ...
Purpose
The study represents a theory-based leadership approach in exploring the subordinate's perceptions of leadership behaviors in relation to age, gender and type of work environment. The aim was (1) to compare subordinates' ratings of their respective leaders' leadership behaviors based on of the leaders' age and gender, controlling for type of work environment and (2) to analyze the relationship between the subordinates' ratings of their leaders' leadership behaviors and their ratings of the outcome of these leadership behaviors.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected using the Developmental Leadership Questionnaire (DLQ) from a sample of Swedish leadership course participants ( n = 10,869) and their respective subordinates ( n = 97,943). The DLQ measures leadership behaviors designed to reflect the following leadership styles: developmental leadership, conventional-positive leadership, conventional-negative leadership and destructive leadership.
Findings
Results showed that older leaders (51 years or older) were rated less favorably than younger (29 years or younger) and mid-aged leaders. Female leaders received more positive ratings than male leaders. A 3-way analysis-of-variance showed strong main effects for age, gender, and type of work environment and no significant interaction effects. A significant model with high equivalents of R ² coefficients (Cox and Snell, 1989; Nagelkerke, 1991) was obtained in a logistic regression analysis. Developmental leadership and conventional-positive leadership made significant positive contributions to the subordinates' ratings of the outcome of their leaders' leadership behaviors. Destructive leadership behaviors contributed negatively to the outcome ratings.
Research limitations/implications
Weaknesses include the cross-sectional study design. The large sample size is a strength, and the results have novel implications for leadership theory related to subordinates' view on leadership.
Practical implications
Counter-stereotype age and gender findings may have implications for organizational decisions and processes regarding selection of managers. Development programs are suggested for all categories but for older, male leaders with a focus on reducing their use of leadership behaviors perceived negatively by their subordinates, whereas younger female leaders should be encouraged to continue to develop their positive leadership behaviors.
Originality/value
The theory-based approach on subordinates' perceptions of leadership behaviors with a simultaneous focus on age, gender and type of work environment, based on a large-scale data set, is new.
... • Yelling at and bullying subordinates (Burton & Hoobler, 2006) • Violence toward subordinates (Larsson et al., 2012) • Being punitive with no compassion and pity (De Hoogh & Den Hartog, 2008) • Humiliating subordinates with harsh comments in front of others (Fosse, 2019) • Slandering one's own subordinates (Duffy et al., 2002) • Lying to subordinates (Tepper, 2000) • Giving the subordinates the "silent treatment" (Duffy et al., 2002) • Being consistently absent when needed by the subordinates or the situation (Bass & Avolio, 2004) • Being manipulative and selfish (Walker et al., 2020) • Belittling subordinates in public (Gallus et al., 2013) A categorization of aggressive behavior proposed by Buss (1961) may be useful in order to identify, categorize, and discuss different types of destructive leadership toward subordinates. Buss divides aggressive behaviors into three dimensions; active-passive, physical-verbal, and direct-indirect. ...
This chapter outlines a behavioral perspective for understanding destructive forms of leadership. The authors define different forms of harmful leadership practices, present and discuss different behaviors, and illustrate how the same individual may display both constructive and destructive behaviors. Next, the authors explore the prevalence of various forms of destructive leadership behavior before discussing strategies to prevent and intervene with destructive leadership. A behavioral perspective focuses on leaders’ actions and can help inform leaders, their superiors, subordinates, and management consultants about behaviors that are detrimental and illegitimate in their role as a leader. Preventive strategies and interventions discussed focus on primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention on individual, organizational, and societal levels. The authors outline a wide range of possible measures that can be used to counteract the occurrence and aftermath of destructive leadership practices.
... The instrumentations used for the survey part developed by the researcher based on different studies at the field. Destructive leadership behaviors: A developed questionnaire depends on researchers work like Larsson et al. (2012). The questionnaire included 20-items, with five factors with four items in each: (1) conceited, inequitable; ...
Destructive leadership (DL) refers to the dark side of leaders' behavior and negative consequences for the employees and organization. This research aims to analyze the role of destructive leadership of higher educational institutions leaders including rectors, faculties' directors, head of departments as perceived by lecturers and other staff about their job satisfaction in Malang city, Indonesia. This research was conducted by adopting quantitative approach and statistics analysis. Sample of research included 580 lecturers and staff who have full-time job at the Islamic universities in Malang city characterized by their gender, qualification, and years of experience. The results of this research reveals low to moderate level in all five different dimensions of destructive leadership, while nine dimensions of lecturers and staff's job satisfaction were revealed between moderate to high. Furthermore, results revealed no significant differences among lecturers in the perceived destructive leadership of universities leaders related to their gender, qualification and years of experience. Regarding to lecturers and staff's job satisfaction, results revealed significant differences based on gender of lecturers and staff in favor for female lecturers and staff, significant differences between qualification level of lecturers and staff in favor for Master or less qualifications, and significant differences among three groups of years of experience related to job satisfaction. Lecturers and staff with 1-5 years of experience have more job satisfaction than other experience level. No significant correlation exists between five dimensions of destructive leadership of universities' higher education leaders and nine dimensions of lecturers and staff' job satisfaction. Finally, this research recommend more awareness for both higher education leaders, lecturers and staff to enhance collaboration between them and lift up the development of higher education reputation and accreditation.
... Thus, the overuse of informal processes within an organization may lead to ethical issues or ego-oriented leadership, with the possibility of individual or departmental gain that does not benefit the whole organization. Negative effects of ego-oriented leadership have been demonstrated previously through the concept of destructive leadership (Einarsen et al., 2007;Larsson et al., 2012). Therefore, aspects of ethical leadership (Gardner et al., 2005) may be beneficial to integrate with concepts of individual adaptive behaviors if the intention is to implement these concepts into organization and leadership development. ...
Many organizations operate in fast-paced and collaborative environments. Individuals’ adaptive behavior may play an important role in managing challenges and for meeting organizational goals. Although individual adaptive behavior has previously been identified as important in organization productivity and flexibility, a lesser extent of research has focused on the variety of adaptive behaviors and skills that may aid in this process. The overarching aim of this thesis, addressed in three empirical studies, was to provide an increased understanding of the adaptive behavior and skills used in high-level military staff work. This included investigating what adaptive behaviors leaders used to try to manage demands and challenges and to investigate relevant skills used by leaders and military officers which may contribute to adaptability in military staff work.
Study I, which used a qualitative approach, aimed to identify ways that leaders managed organizational demands and challenges and, subsequently, relate these strategies to established organizational theory regarding negative organizational characteristics. An inductive analysis identified five coping strategies: repair work, catching up, reproducing, managing loyalties, and balancing formal and informal processes. These were described as being used to decrease the workload and manage demands and challenges. Results of a deductive analysis indicated a possible relationship between the leaders’ coping strategies and negative organizational characteristics. Study II, which used a qualitative approach, aimed to identify what leadership skills were perceived as important for leaders in gaining adaptability in military staff work. A core variable was identified in the data, the leader’s use of smooth power. This included the use of structural, emotional and relational smoothness, to gain adaptability. Smooth power was interpreted as facilitating adaptive behaviors, including networking and influencing behavior. Study III investigated a specific social effectiveness construct, political skill, in a military staff context. This included the investigation of the 18-item Political Skill Inventory (Ferris et al., 2005). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported the original four-dimensional representation of political skill, including networking ability, apparent sincerity, social astuteness, and interpersonal influence. The study also explored whether there were different combinations of the dimensions of political skill through latent profile analyses. Four profiles were identified: 1) weak political skill, 2) weak political skill with strong sincerity, 3) moderate political skill, and 4) strong political skill. Subsequent profile comparisons indicated differences regarding demographics, personality, and performance.
The results from the thesis imply that there are a variety of behaviors that individuals perform to manage organizational demands and challenges, including reactive and proactive behaviors in military staff work. These behaviors appear to vary depending on contextual factors. In addition, the results indicate the importance of networking activity in military staff contexts, which appear to contribute positively to organizational outcomes. Taken together, the findings broaden the current understanding of the function and diversity that adaptive behaviors and skills may represent in relation to managing demands and challenges in high-level military staff work.
... First, we used Google Scholar to systematically search for studies that cited destructive leadership measure development papers (e.g., Larsson, Brandebo, & Nilsson, 2012;Shaw, Erickson, & Harvey, 2011;Thoroughgood, Tate, Sawyer, & Jacobs, 2012). Second, we used Google Scholar to search for studies that cited measure development papers for specific styles of destructive leadership, such as abusive supervision (Tepper, 2000), aversive leadership (Pearce & Sims, 2002), despotic leadership (De Hoogh & Den Hartog, 2008), exploitative leadership (Schmid et al., 2019), narcissistic leadership (Rosenthal & Pittinsky, 2006), and petty tyranny (Ashforth, 1997). ...
The destructive leadership literature has grown remarkably in recent years. Although the field has generated an impressive body of knowledge, we still have an incomplete understanding of destructive leadership. We conduct a systematic literature review of destructive leadership research so we can create a solid foundation for knowledge production and theory development within this literature. Further, we draw from 418 empirical samples of data (k = 418, N = 123,511) to conduct random-effects meta-analyses that estimate the magnitude and direction of relationships within destructive leadership’s nomological network. Ultimately, our study leverages and integrates the many insights from the destructive leadership literature to advance knowledge, facilitate nuanced theory development, generate useful directions for future research, and create evidence-based recommendations for policy and practice.
... However, studies demonstrate that suboptimal leadership is not simply a result of organizational inefficiency and social stress, but there are certain leadership orientations that have unfavorable effect on employees (Shaw, Erickson and Harvey, 2011). In this respect, scholars coined the term of destructive leadership to cover leadership practices that adversely influence subordinates' behaviors (Larsson, Brandebo, and Nilsson, 2012). ...
... First, we used Google Scholar to systematically search for studies that cited destructive leadership measure development papers (e.g., Larsson, Brandebo, & Nilsson, 2012;Shaw, Erickson, & Harvey, 2011;Thoroughgood, Tate, Sawyer, & Jacobs, 2012). Second, we used Google Scholar to search for studies that cited measure development papers for specific styles of destructive leadership, such as abusive supervision (Tepper, 2000), aversive leadership (Pearce & Sims, 2002), despotic leadership (De Hoogh & Den Hartog, 2008), exploitative leadership (Schmid et al., 2019), narcissistic leadership (Rosenthal & Pittinsky, 2006), and petty tyranny (Ashforth, 1997). ...
... Negative aspects of organizational structures have been previously studied in the area of management and organizational behavior and slightly within the area of destructive leadership [1][2][3][4][5]. However, the focus has primarily been either on the individual level or on the structures within the organization. ...
... Following questionnaires adopted to obtain responses about under study variables. Destructive leadership was measured with 20 item questionnaire adopted [63]. Job stress was measured with 6 items questionnaire adopted [64]. ...
Previous studies have ignored the leadership role in pharmaceutical industry and documented complex challenges in this field with respect to effective leadership. Related to the issue, destructive leadership has become an emerging area of research. The purpose of current study is to examine the impact of destructive leadership behaviors on turnover intentions and deviant behavior through the mediation of job stress of leaders in pharmaceutical companies. Data was collected from higher leadership working in pharmaceutical companies of Pakistan. The study is longitudinal in nature; therefore, data has been collected two times with four months' interval. Questionnaires were used for data collection from leaders. After 4 months, data was recollected from the same respondents. CFA (Confirmatory Factor Analysis) and SEM (Structure Equation Modeling) techniques were used for statistical analysis. Results of the study signified that destructive leadership behaviors positively and significantly affect turnover intention and deviant behavior. Results also enlightened that job stress positively and significantly mediated the relationship of destructive leadership behaviors and turnover intention and deviant behavior. Findings also enlightened that respondent's behavior towards understudy variables became stronger in time2 as compared to time1. If organizations want to retain their employees, they must understand dynamics of destructive leadership behaviors in order to avoid cost in form of turnover intentions and deviance. This study also brings fresh perspective considering its setting in pharmaceutical industry in Pakistan.
... Following questionnaires adopted to obtain responses about under study variables. Destructive leadership was measured with 20 item questionnaire adopted [63]. Job stress was measured with 6 items questionnaire adopted [64]. ...
... Arrogant or unfair, threats or punishments or over demands, egooriented or false, passive or cowardly, uncertain or messy designed for context-specific taking into four types of major destructive behaviors (tyrannical, derailed, supportive-disloyal and abusive supervision). The word phrasing of the 20 items were inspired by human regression"s International Journal of Management Research and Emerging Sciences classical psychoanalytic writing and the later questionnaire was given the "Destrudo-L" ("L" stands for Leadership) (Larsson, Brandebo & Nilsson, 2012). ...
Purpose -The purpose of the study is to analyze the dark side of leadership behaviors leading to cause job stress and their impact on turnover intention of employees as work outcome. Working under the dark shadow of destructive leaders creates stress and anxiety that effect indirectly and consequently lead employees to turnover from their job position or designation.
Design/methodology/approach -The research study is exploratory in approach. The scales were adapted from that measure to analyze the destructive leadership exhibiting negative behaviors causing job stress, also highlights the evidence in support of the conceptual model. The sample chosen for this research are employees working in telecommunication call centers in Lahore city region in Pakistan that generated 250 respondents by survey data collection.
Findings -AMOS (SEM) was employed for data analysis. The results showed that Abusive supervision and Derailed leadership behaviors contained the positive influence on Turnover intention followed by mediating effect of job stress analyzed by bootstrapping technique contained partial and full mediation in relation with turnover intention respectively.
Research implications/Limitations -Outcome from the conducted study depicted that more knowledge and awareness about the leadership behaviors and perspective in organizations in relation to its consequences is needed to be dealt with.
Originality/Value - The study provided evidence along with a proposed model that directed the readers’ and researchers attention towards the dark side behaviors of a leader in a stress building environment such as the telecommunication sector. This empirical study provides a preliminary evidence of the mediating role job stress when faced with destructive behaviors of leaders that stresses to have an impact on Turnover Intention of employees.
Keywords Destructive Leadership, Job Stress, Turnover Intention, Tyrannical, Supportive-disloyal.
... Following questionnaires adopted to obtain responses about under study variables. Destructive leadership was measured with 20 item questionnaire adopted [63]. Job stress was measured with 6 items questionnaire adopted [64]. ...
Previous studies have ignored the leadership role in pharmaceutical industry and documented complex challenges in this field with respect to effective leadership. Related to the issue, destructive leadership has become an emerging area of research. The purpose of current study is to examine the impact of destructive leadership behaviors on turnover intentions and deviant behavior through the mediation of job stress of leaders in pharmaceutical companies. Data was collected from higher leadership working in pharmaceutical companies of Pakistan. The study is longitudinal in nature; therefore, data has been collected two times with four months' interval. Questionnaires were used for data collection from leaders. After 4 months, data was recollected from the same respondents. CFA (Confirmatory Factor Analysis) and SEM (Structure Equation Modeling) techniques were used for statistical analysis. Results of the study signified that destructive leadership behaviors positively and significantly affect turnover intention and deviant behavior. Results also enlightened that job stress positively and significantly mediated the relationship of destructive leadership behaviors and turnover intention and deviant behavior. Findings also enlightened that respondent's behavior towards understudy variables became stronger in time2 as compared to time1. If organizations want to retain their employees, they must understand dynamics of destructive leadership behaviors in order to avoid cost in form of turnover intentions and deviance. This study also brings fresh perspective considering its setting in pharmaceutical industry in Pakistan.
... Following questionnaires adopted to obtain responses about under study variables. Destructive leadership was measured with 20 item questionnaire adopted [63]. Job stress was measured with 6 items questionnaire adopted [64]. ...
Previous studies have ignored the leadership role in pharmaceutical industry and documented complex challenges in this field with respect to effective leadership. Related to the issue, destructive leadership has become an emerging area of research. The purpose of current study is to examine the impact of destructive leadership behaviors on turnover intentions and deviant behavior through the mediation of job stress of leaders in pharmaceutical companies. Data was collected from higher leadership working in pharmaceutical companies of Pakistan. The study is longitudinal in nature; therefore, data has been collected two times with four months' interval. Questionnaires were used for data collection from leaders. After 4 months, data was recollected from the same respondents. CFA (Confirmatory Factor Analysis) and SEM (Structure Equation Modeling) techniques were used for statistical analysis. Results of the study signified that destructive leadership behaviors positively and significantly affect turnover intention and deviant behavior. Results also enlightened that job stress positively and significantly mediated the relationship of destructive leadership behaviors and turnover intention and deviant behavior. Findings also enlightened that respondent's behavior towards understudy variables became stronger in time2 as compared to time1. If organizations want to retain their employees, they must understand dynamics of destructive leadership behaviors in order to avoid cost in form of turnover intentions and deviance. This study also brings fresh perspective considering its setting in pharmaceutical industry in Pakistan.
... Destructive leader behavior: The Destrudo-L scale (20 items) was used to measure the participants` perception of their leadersd estructive leader behavior [49]. This instrument is developed as a context-specific instrument to examine aspects of destructive leadership in a military context. ...
Recent research indicates that destructive leadership might have a detrimental effect on a wide range of outcomes across the organization. However, few studies have focused on the military context. The present study examined the extent to which destructive leader behavior was related to individual work-related attitudes and feelings among military personnel in the Norwegian Armed forces (N=170). Dependent variables were (1) Burnout, (2) Work Engagement, and (3) Organizational Commitment. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that destructive leader behavior significantly predicted Burnout and Work Engagement. This is the first study that examines, and in parallel confirms the unique influence of destructive leadership on important work environment variables among members of the Norwegian armed forces. Despite the fact that the respondents in this sample most likely have above average psychological robustness, they still appear to be significantly influenced by destructive leader behavior. At the same time, our findings also indicate that respondents are able to maintain their organizational commitment despite destructive leader behavior. This study thus represents a unique step towards establishing knowledge about the interplay between destructive leader behavior and psychosocial related phenomena, forming a potential basis for theoretical and practical developments.
... Job satisfaction intention to leave or actually leaving the military organization (Larsson et al., 2012). Thus, whether high job satisfaction and organizational commitment among top-level military leaders contribute to a favourable contagion process, down the chain of command, could have important consequences at the lower organizational levels. ...
Purpose: Job satisfaction has been claimed to be the most important and frequently studied attitude in organizational behaviour research. However, as most studies relate to lower hierarchical levels, the purpose of the present study was to gain a deeper understanding of job satisfaction and organizational commitment among high-level managers, military leaders in this case.
Design/methodology/approach: A grounded theory approach was used. The empirical material is based on 12 interviews, two of which were with women. The informants had wide experience of a number of leadership positions as well as participation in international operations. Their ranks ranged from Colonel to Brigadier General and they represented army and naval units, the Armed Forces Headquarters and Swedish Defence University.
Findings: The qualitative analysis resulted in a theoretical model that describes the job satisfaction of military leaders at the strategic level, which concerns establishing and balancing organizational commitment. This means that top level managers develop, manage and recreate a “sense of oneness” between themselves and the organization – a strong identification that is established, challenged, changed, and renegotiated in a continuous process. Establishing and balancing organizational commitment is built on two over-arching categories: keeping up the organizational image and responding to organizational greediness. Research limitations/implications: Small sample, lack of representativeness, and lack of illumination of possible gender-related aspects.
Practical implications: The suggested model may be valuable in educational settings when evaluating the job satisfaction and organization commitment of high-level officers. The model may have practical implications when it comes to selection, retention and leader development of high-level military officers.
Originality/value: A new integrative, theoretical model of job satisfaction and organization commitment of high-level officers is developed and discussed.
Destructive leadership does not occur in a vacuum; rather, these behaviors are part of a social process in which leader and follower interact and influence each other. Still, knowledge regarding followers’ behaviors as antecedents to destructive leadership behavior is limited, even more so from a gender perspective. In this study, we investigate the relationship between perceived lack of team motivation and destructive leadership behavior, with the leader’s gender as a moderator. Together with Statistic Sweden, we collected data using a two-wave survey design. We included 784 participants in the analysis, using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results showed that perceived lack of team motivation was associated with active and passive destructive leadership behaviors. Beyond that, the leader’s gender moderated the relationship between leaders’ perception of team amotivation and active destructive leadership. The results show that male leaders are more prone to act destructively when they perceive a lack of team motivation. These results suggest that male leaders may be more susceptible to engaging in destructive leadership behaviors due to identity threat than female leaders. Therefore, we examine how the construction of gender and identity and the close association between masculinity and leader identity contribute to the risk of engaging in destructive leadership behavior.
It has been suggested that with age comes experience in how to deal effectively with stressors, and therefore resources needed to uphold constructive leadership behaviors partly depend on managers’ age. This relation between age and leadership behaviors may also depend on the level of support that managers are given. In the present study, we depart from Conservation of resource theory and lifespan theory to examine the link between managers’ age and inefficient leadership, with stress as a mediator in this relation. We also investigate whether social support buffers the relations between managers’ age, stress, and inefficient leadership. Self-report survey data from a randomly selected sample of Swedish managers were collected at two time points, six months apart. In total, 781 managers answered the survey at both times. We found that, as expected, managers age was negatively related to inefficient leadership through stress. In other words, younger managers perceive themselves as more stressed and because of that more inefficient. Contrary to what we expected, these relations were not influenced by social support. Our study is among the first to study managers’ age as an antecedent to inefficient leadership behaviors. The study also adds to the understanding of this relation by including stress as a mechanism. Furthermore, our research contributes to the examination of potential boundary conditions for when age may translate into stress and inefficient work behaviors by investigating social support as a potential moderator.
While the Air Force espouses the values of integrity, service, and excellence, a startling amount of divergent behavior is still observed in both officer and enlisted personnel. Twenty-two Air Force field grade officers attending the Command and General Staff College in-residence participated in quantitative research that measured the relationship between leadership styles and destructive leadership behavior. Results showed field grade officers experienced more passive destructive leadership behavior (DLB) than active DLB; transformational leadership appear to have a stronger negative relationship with DLB, while passive avoidant leadership had a positive relationship with DLB. These findings support additional research, which could be a useful tool at measuring unit climate or to optimize leadership curriculum.
Managerial leadership is not an agreed-upon concept. We begin by problematizing definitions of leadership. We continue by describing various leadership theories presented in the literature and then discuss the difference between power and authority.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify and gain a deeper understanding of environmental, organizational, and group conditions, and leadership-related issues in particular, in severely stressful situations involving a moral stressor faced by military and police officers.
Design/methodology/approach
A combined deductive and inductive approach was used, and in total 23 military and police officers, all having experience of morally difficult decisions during severely stressful conditions, were interviewed.
Findings
A hierarchical conceptual framework of contextual characteristics was developed. The environmental, organizational, leadership-related, and group aspects identified in this study on morally stressful situations resemble findings from general research on work and stress. However, a stronger emphasis was put on leaders’ handling of values and his or her ability to confront senior management when needed.
Practical implications
The results suggest that well-documented methods aimed at the prevention of, and recovery from, work-related stress, also can be used in the case of extreme situations involving moral stressors.
Originality/value
The interplay between leadership and extreme situations involving moral stressors is, to the best of the knowledge, understudied.
Purpose
This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.
Design
This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.
Findings
The organizational smooth power consisted of structural smoothness, emotional smoothness and relational smoothness. Four distinct superior categories emerged from the data: the professional background of the leader, professional name-branding, contextual appraisal and organizational smooth power.
Originality
The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the differences between destructive leadership in two different contexts: crisis management and usual circumstances. The specific research questions are as follows: What is the relationship between destructive leadership behaviours in usual circumstances and destructive leadership behaviours in crisis management? Are destructive leadership behaviours in usual circumstances or in crisis management the best predictors of trust in the leader and subordinate performance?
Design/methodology/approach
Questionnaire responses were obtained from 337 individuals who had experience from handling various societal crises, such as terror attacks and forest fires. The respondents represented four different organisations: municipalities, county administrative boards, the police and the emergency service.
Findings
The results from the study reveal that there is a strong association between destructive leadership in usual circumstances and destructive leadership during crisis management. The study indicates that everyday leadership matters the most. It is above all behaviours in usual circumstances that show the strongest associations with trust in the leader and subordinate performance. The results also show that it is especially task-related, passive forms of destructive leadership behaviours that show the strongest association with the studied outcome variables.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations related to measurements and self-reported data are discussed.
Practical implications
The study emphasises the importance of paying attention to leaders’ task- and strategic-oriented behaviour as well as the importance of building trusting relationships with the subordinates.
Originality/value
The need for industry-specific studies of destructive leadership has been highlighted and this study contributes with knowledge from the crisis management context.
Purpose – The study aims to gain a deeper understanding of what leadership skills are important for leaders in gaining adaptability in a hierarchical organization along with antecedent factors that influence the potential development of these skill sets.
Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative study was conducted by interviewing fifteen high-level military officers (Brigadiers and Colonels). Data were analyzed according to the grounded theory method and a theoretical model was generated.
Findings –A core variable was identified in the data analysis, the leader’s use of organizational smooth power, using structural, emotional and relational smoothness, to gain organizational adaptability. The leader’s professional background, experience and the organizational environment characteristics respectively interact as antecedent variables shaping the leader’s contextual appraisal in order to implement smooth power. Further research suggestions are pointed out and practical and ethical implications are included.
Research limitations/implications – The study was completed in a specific context, a higher-level military staff, which makes it context specific. We hypothesize that similar behaviors may be found in other organizations but further research should be conducted to test this. The sample size is relatively small due to the chosen qualitative research method.
Practical implications – Practical considerations should be given to ethical and moral reflection within leadership training for ongoing use in leadership praxis, such as implementation and ongoing reflection of ethical leadership (Trevino et al., 2000; Trevino et al., 2003). Other practical impacts of this research may be for selection and retention efforts of high-level military staff workers. The model may also be useful for education
purposes in order to increase awareness and abilities of smooth power concepts in an attempt to increase adaptability in military leadership. It may increase their awareness of skills rendered as necessary for collaborative efforts in multinational staff environments.
Originality/value – The research contribution is the detailed descriptions of the ways high-level leaders use of organizational smooth power in order gain organizational adaptability.
Keywords Leadership, Social capital, Informal organization, Adaptability, Organizational behavior, Smooth power
Purpose
Line managers can make or break organizational interventions, yet little is known about what makes them turn in either direction. As leadership does not occur in a vacuum, it has been suggested that the organizational context plays an important role. Building on the intervention and leadership literature, we examine if span of control and employee readiness for change are related to line managers' leadership during an organizational intervention.
Design/methodology/approach
Leadership is studied in terms of intervention-specific constructive, as well as passive and active forms of destructive, leadership behaviors. As a sample, we use employees ( N = 172) from 37 groups working at a process industry plant. Multilevel analyses over two time points, with both survey and organizational register data were used to analyze the data.
Findings
The results revealed that span of control was negatively related to constructive leadership and positively related to passive destructive leadership during the intervention. Employee readiness for change was positively related to constructive leadership, and negatively related to both passive and active destructive leadership.
Practical implications
Our findings suggest that contextual factors need to be assessed and considered if we want line managers to engage in constructive rather than destructive leadership during interventions.
Originality/value
The present study is the first to address line managers' making or breaking of organizational interventions by examining the influence of context on both their destructive and constructive leadership.
The aim of this study was to investigate whether constructive or destructive leadership behaviors are the best predictors of soldiers’ experienced meaningfulness of work and general job satisfaction. Data were collected among 300 employed soldiers using a questionnaire. The questionnaire contained questions about the immediate leader’s constructive and destructive leadership, meaningfulness of work and general job satisfaction. The results show that the constructive leadership factor inspiration and motivation was the best predictor of both experienced meaningfulness of work and general job satisfaction. None of the destructive leadership factors gave a significant contribution to the models although both the passive and active forms of destructive leadership showed a weak to moderate significant, negative correlation with experienced meaningfulness of work and general job satisfaction.
The aim was to evaluate effects of leadership courses based on the developmental leadership model at the leadership behavioral level. A longitudinal design was employed with assessments before, one and six months after the leadership courses. The sample consisted of 59 leaders who made self-ratings and were rated by at least three subordinates on each occasion. Leadership behaviors were measured with the Developmental Leadership Questionnaire (DLQ). A limited increase of favorable leadership behaviors and a significant reduction of unfavorable leadership behaviors were found, particularly according to the subordinates' ratings. A cluster analysis yielded three meaningful leader profiles and showed that this pattern was found in all three profiles, irrespective of how favorably they were rated before the onset of the intervention.
Despite an increasing number of programs that aim to develop or educate leaders, the underlying processes involved in leader development or growth are not well understood. This study was undertaken to discover what factors or processes are involved in leader development for junior military officers, from their own perspective and in the natural context of their career and life experiences. Military officers (N = 51) from 5 different countries were interviewed using a standardized approach, and interview transcripts were analyzed according to the constant comparative method of grounded theory, as elaborated by Glaser and Strauss (1967). Consistently across the 5 countries, the core of the process model of leader development is the social interaction between the young officer and his or her significant others (soldiers, peers, and superiors). In the favorable case, officers end this process feeling secure, being able to flexibly adapt their overt behavior on an underdistanced-overdistanced continuum according to situational demands, and have a firm professional identity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)
The aim was to describe the development of a theoretical model for leader evaluation and development, an instrument based on this model, and a strategy for large scale implementation in the Swedish armed forces. The model rests on an interactional person by situation paradigm. It emphasises “developmental leadership”, which is inspired by transformational and functionalistic leadership approaches. The developmental leadership questionnaire (DLQ) was operationalised from the model and refined through structural equation modelling. The model and the DLQ will be used for three purposes: yearly evaluation of all personnel in the Swedish armed forces; yearly planning dialogues between each employee and his or her nearest supervisor; and a tool for leadership training. The implementation strategy includes an initial course in developmental leadership for all colonels. This is followed by the selection and training of local trainers, who, in turn, initiate the comprehensive programme locally. The system should be fully implemented by 2005.
In recent studies of the structure of affect, positive and negative affect have consistently emerged as two dominant and relatively independent dimensions. A number of mood scales have been created to measure these factors; however, many existing measures are inadequate, showing low reliability or poor convergent or discriminant validity. To fill the need for reliable and valid Positive Affect and Negative Affect scales that are also brief and easy to administer, we developed two 10-item mood scales that comprise the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). The scales are shown to be highly internally consistent, largely uncorrelated, and stable at appropriate levels over a 2-month time period. Normative data and factorial and external evidence of convergent and discriminant validity for the scales are also presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)
The purpose of this study is to investigate the relations between aptitude variables and school achievement using a model of ability which allows simultaneous identification of general and specific abilities. A battery of 16 aptitude tests was administered in the 6th grade and course grades were collected in 17 different subject matter areas in the 9th grade (N = 866). For the aptitude tests a confirmatory factor model is fitted with a general factor (G) along with nine orthogonal, residual factors. Some of the residual factors are quite broad (Crystallized intelligence, Gc1, and General visualization G1), but most are narrow factors identified by pairs of tests (e.g., V1, Ms1, Num Ach1, Vz1, S, and Cs1). A model is fitted to the 17 course grades as well. The model includes a general school achievement factor (GENACH) and domain specific achievement factors in areas such as science-mathematics (SCIENCE), social science (SOCSCI1), language (LANG1) and spatial-practical performance (SPATPR1). Relating the latent criterion variables to the latent aptitude variables it is found that some 40% of the variance in GENACH may be accounted for by G and Gc1. However, larger proportions of variance are accounted for in the domain specific achievement factors and different aptitude factors are important in different domains. It is conclu~ded that differentiation among at least a limited number of broad abilities may be worthwhile.
Replicated D. T. Lykken's study (see record
1968-18058-001) to resolve the conflict between the findings of S. R. Maddi et al (see record
1987-22446-001) and those of D. H. Schroeder and P. T. Costa (see record
1984-23643-001) regarding the impact of negative affectivity (NA; i.e., neuroticism) contaminated life event items on observed life event–illness relationships. Among 330 managers and professionals, NA-contaminated items correlated significantly with 3 measures of well-being (depression, life satisfaction, and physical symptoms). In 2 of 3 cases, correlations between contaminated items and well-being measures were significantly different from correlations between uncontaminated items and well-being indicators. Prior life event–well-being findings may be inflated considerably by the use of NA-contaminated events. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This study developed and tested a theory-based measure of authentic leadership using five separate samples obtained from China, Kenya, and the United States. Confirmatory factor analyses supported a higher order, multidimensional model of the authentic leadership con-struct (the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire [ALQ]) comprising leader self-awareness, rela-tional transparency, internalized moral perspective, and balanced processing. Structural equation modeling (SEM) demonstrated the predictive validity for the ALQ measure for important work-related attitudes and behaviors, beyond what ethical and transformational leadership offered. Finally, results revealed a positive relationship between authentic leadership and supervisor-rated performance. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
Drawing on justice theory, I examined the consequences of abusive supervisor behavior. As expected, subordinates who perceived their supervisors were more abusive were more likely to quit their jobs. For subordinates who remained with their jobs, abusive supervision was associated with lower job and life satisfaction, lower normative and affective commitment, and higher continuance commitment, conflict between work and family, and psychological distress. Organizational justice mediated most of these effects, and job mobility moderated some of the deleterious effects of abusive supervision.
A growing literature explores abusive supervision, nonphysical forms of hostility perpetrated by managers against their direct reports. However, researchers have used different terminology to explore phenomena that overlap with abusive supervision, and extant research does not devolve from a unifying theoretical framework. These problems have the potential to undermine the development of knowledge in this important research domain. The author therefore provides a review of the literature that summarizes what is known about the antecedents and consequences of abusive supervision, provides the basis for an emergent model that integrates extant empirical work, and suggests directions for future research.
This study investigates the prevalence of the four types of destructive leadership behaviour in the destructive and constructive leadership behaviour model, in a representative sample of the Norwegian workforce. The study employs two estimation methods: the operational classification method (OCM) and latent class cluster (LCC) analysis. The total prevalence of destructive leadership behaviour varied from 33.5% (OCM) to 61% (LCC), indicating that destructive leadership is not an anomaly. Destructive leadership comes in many shapes and forms, with passive forms prevailing over more active ones. The results showed that laissez-faire leadership behaviour was the most prevalent destructive leadership behaviour, followed by supportive–disloyal leadership and derailed leadership, while tyrannical leadership behaviour was the least prevalent destructive leadership behaviour. Furthermore, many leaders display constructive as well as destructive behaviours, indicating that leadership is not either constructive or destructive. The study contributes to a broader theoretical perspective on what must be seen as typical behaviour among leaders.
This paper proposes a definition and a descriptive model of destructive leadership behaviour. Destructive leadership behaviour is defined as the systematic and repeated behaviour by a leader, supervisor or manager that violates the legitimate interest of the organisation by undermining and/or sabotaging the organisation's goals, tasks, resources, and effectiveness and/or the motivation, well-being or job satisfaction of his/her subordinates. Three categories of such destructive leadership are identified in the proposed model: tyrannical, derailed, and supportive–disloyal leadership behaviour. The model may provide a useful link between the field of leadership and research on bullying, counterproductive behaviour, and aggression at work. The model contributes to a more nuanced concept of destructive leadership showing how destructive leadership behaviours also may have constructive elements.
The greater power of bad events over good ones is found in everyday events, major life events (e.g., trauma), close relationship outcomes, social network patterns, interpersonal interactions, and learning processes. Bad emotions, bad parents, and bad feedback have more impact than good ones, and bad information is processed more thoroughly than good. The self is more motivated to avoid bad self-definitions than to pursue good ones. Bad impressions and bad stereotypes are quicker to form and more resistant to disconfirmation than good ones. Various explanations such as diagnosticity and salience help explain some findings, but the greater power of bad events is still found when such variables are controlled. Hardly any exceptions (indicating greater power of good) can be found. Taken together, these findings suggest that bad is stronger than good, as a general principle across a broad range of psychological phenomena.
The extent to which negative affectivity (NA), the tendency to experience a wide range of negative emotions, inflated correlations between chronic job stressors and strains was examined in this study. NA was found to account for a large proportion of shared variance between stressors and physical strains (as indicated by absence, doctor visits, and physical symptoms). Contrary to the results of Brief, Burke, George, Robinson, and Webster (1988), NA did not account for much of the variance shared by stressors and affective strains (job satisfaction, anger, and feelings of stress and frustration). Reasons for the failure of this and several earlier studies to successfully replicate Brief et al.'s results are explored.
Maddi, Bartone, and Puccetti (1987) and Schroeder and Costa (1984) reported inconsistent findings regarding the impact of negative affectivity (NA; i.e., neuroticism) contaminated life event items on observed life event-illness relationships. Here, unlike the previous studied, such contaminated items were nonjudgmentally identified. Among a sample of managers and professionals, it was found that NA-contaminated items correlated significantly with three measures of well-being (depression, life satisfaction, and physical symptoms) and that uncontaminated items were unassociated with the well-being indicators. Moreover, in two of three cases, the correlations between contaminated items and the well-being measures were significantly different from the correlations between uncontaminated items and the well-being indicators. Therefore, we concluded that prior life event-well-being findings are inflated considerably by the use of NA-contaminated events. Suggestions for future life events research that incorporate the NA construct are detailed.
Most current models in health psychology assume that stress adversely affects physical health. We re-examined this assumption by reviewing extensive data from the literature and from six samples of our own, in which we collected measures of personality, health and fitness, stress, and current emotional functioning. Results indicate that self-report health measures reflect a pervasive mood disposition of negative affectivity (NA); self-report stress scales also contain a substantial NA component. However, although NA is correlated with health compliant scales, it is not strongly or consistently related to actual, long-term health status, and thus will act as a general nuisance factor in health research. Because self-report measures of stress and health both contain a significant NA component, correlations between such measures likely overestimate the true association between stress and health. Results demonstrate the importance of including different types of health measures in health psychology research.
A study of trait-anxiety and sense of coherence on a group of medical students over 18 mo. shows that, although both characteristics are rather stable over time, the measure of sense of coherence is more sensitive to stressors than A-trait and is better predicted by A-trait than the opposite.
Perhaps because negative emotions are frequently expressed in physiological reactions, psychosomatic theories have often identified Neuroticism and its component traits (including anxiety, anger, and depression) as causal influences on the development of disease. These views are apparently supported by correlations between physical symptom reports and measures of Neuroticism in males. Data from 347 adult women in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging replicate this finding for total physical complaints and for most body systems. However, analyses of mortality in the literature and in the present article show no influence of Neuroticism, suggesting that symptom reporting may be biased by Neuroticism-related styles of perceiving and reporting physiological experiences. Researchers in this area are urged to employ objective measures of medical status, and to be alert to possible biases of self-selection and selective perception in interpreting associations between Neuroticism and disease.
A number of apparently diverse personality scales––variously assessing trait anxiety, neuroticism, ego strength, general maladjustment, repression-sensitization, and social desirability––are reviewed and are shown to be in fact measures of the same stable and pervasive trait. An integrative interpretation of the construct as Negative Affectivity (NA) is presented. A review of studies using measures such as the Beck Depression Inventory, Eysenck Personality Inventory, and Multiple Affect Adjective Check List indicate that high-NA Ss are more likely to experience discomfort at all times and across situations, even in the absence of overt stress. They are relatively more introspective and tend differentially to dwell on the negative side of themselves and the world. Further research is needed to explain the origins of NA and to elucidate the characteristics of low-NA individuals. (5½ p ref)
A science of positive subjective experience, positive individual traits, and positive institutions promises to improve quality of life and prevent the pathologies that arise when life is barren and meaningless. The exclusive focus on pathology that has dominated so much of our discipline results in a model of the human being lacking the positive features that make life worth living. Hope, wisdom, creativity, future mindedness, courage, spirituality, responsibility, and perseverance are ignored or explained as transformations of more authentic negative impulses. The 15 articles in this millennial issue of the American Psychologist discuss such issues as what enables happiness, the effects of autonomy and self-regulation, how optimism and hope affect health, what constitutes wisdom, and how talent and creativity come to fruition. The authors outline a framework for a science of positive psychology, point to gaps in our knowledge, and predict that the next century will see a science and profession that will come to understand and build the factors that allow individuals, communities, and societies to flourish.
The aim of the study is to test the assumption that laissez-faire leadership behavior is not a type of zero-leadership, but a type of destructive leadership behavior that shows systematic relationships with workplace stressors, bullying at work, and psychological distress. A survey of 2,273 Norwegian employees was conducted and analyzed. Laissez-faire leadership was positively correlated with role conflict, role ambiguity, and conflicts with coworkers. Path modeling showed that these stressors mediated the effects of laissez-faire leadership on bullying at work and that the effects of laissez-faire leadership on distress were mediated through the workplace stressors, especially through exposure to bullying. The results support the assumption that laissez-faire leadership behavior is a destructive leadership behavior.
In this study, the authors examine the relationship between abusive supervision and employee workplace deviance. The authors conceptualize abusive supervision as a type of aggression. They use work on retaliation and direct and displaced aggression as a foundation for examining employees' reactions to abusive supervision. The authors predict abusive supervision will be related to supervisor-directed deviance, organizational deviance, and interpersonal deviance. Additionally, the authors examine the moderating effects of negative reciprocity beliefs. They hypothesized that the relationship between abusive supervision and supervisor-directed deviance would be stronger when individuals hold higher negative reciprocity beliefs. The results support this hypothesis. The implications of the results for understanding destructive behaviors in the workplace are examined.
The extent to which negative affectivity (NA), the tendency to experience a wide range of negative emotions, inflated correlations between chronic job stressors and strains was examined in this study. NA was found to account for a large proportion of shared variance between stressors and physical strains (as indicated by absence, doctor visits, and physical symptoms). Contrary to the results of Brief, Burke, George, Robinson, and Webster (1988), NA did not account for much of the variance shared by stressors and affective strains (job satisfaction, anger, and feelings of stress and frustration). Reasons for the failure of this and several earlier studies to successfully replicate Brief et al.'s results are explored.
This article aims at analyzing the content and structure of managers' conceptions of negative leadership. Using semi-structured interviews, 42 managers were asked about their conceptions of negative leadership, its antecedents and consequences. Results show that the concept of negative leadership is associated with eight behavioural categories: insincere, despotic, exploitative, restrictive, failed, laissez-faire, and active- and passive-avoiding leadership. Negative leadership was causally attributed to the environment of the leader, especially the followers, the immediate working field, as well as organizational processes, structures, and resources were seen as potential sources for negative leadership. The main factors regarded as its consequences included negative follower feelings and attitudes, destructive follower behaviour, and devastating organizational results. An analysis of the relationship between the leadership categories revealed two underlying dimensions of human- versus task-orientation and passive versus active behaviour. Limitations of the present approach, implications for future research and organizational practice are discussed.
Context-free versus context-specific research orientations are discussed as researchers' cognitive styles that influence the way in which management research is conducted. Context-free research is considered as that conducted by researchers interested in phenomena (e.g., motivation, leadership, strategic planning) free of the particular organizational context in which the phenomena are found. By contrast, context-specific research is that which focuses on unique characteristics of types of organizations (e.g., health care or public sector organizations). The two orientations are compared and contrasted along some dozen issue areas ranging from analytical issues to application and professional issues. The relationship of these orientations to methodological preferences is examined. Examples are provided which show how combining these orientations has been used to enhance management research within a process called reality testing.
This article concerns leadership effectiveness studied from the reverse angle. We review the literature on managerial derailment and propose a taxonomy of derailment factors. We then describe an inventory designed to assess these factors, provide some evidence regarding the psychometric features of the inventory, and some evidence regarding its validity. We suggest that the base rate for managerial incompetence in any organization is quite high, and we propose our inventory is a useful device for management development – because it focuses on dysfunctional dispositions known to be associated with failure as a manager.
To address present and future leadership needs, a model of authentic leader and follower development is proposed and examined with respect to its relationship to veritable, sustainable follower performance. The developmental processes of leader and follower self-awareness and self-regulation are emphasized. The influence of the leader's and followers' personal histories and trigger events are considered as antecedents of authentic leadership and followership, as well as the reciprocal effects with an inclusive, ethical, caring and strength-based organizational climate. Positive modeling is viewed as a primary means whereby leaders develop authentic followers. Posited outcomes of authentic leader–follower relationships include heightened levels of follower trust in the leader, engagement, workplace well-being and veritable, sustainable performance. Testable propositions and directions for exploring them are presented and discussed.
This Special Issue is the result of the inaugural summit hosted by the Gallup Leadership Institute at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2004 on Authentic Leadership Development (ALD). We describe in this introduction to the special issue current thinking in this emerging field of research as well as questions and concerns. We begin by considering some of the environmental and organizational forces that may have triggered interest in describing and studying authentic leadership and its development. We then provide an overview of its contents, including the diverse theoretical and methodological perspectives presented, followed by a discussion of alternative conceptual foundations and definitions for the constructs of authenticity, authentic leaders, authentic leadership, and authentic leadership development. A detailed description of the components of authentic leadership theory is provided next. The similarities and defining features of authentic leadership theory in comparison to transformational, charismatic, servant and spiritual leadership perspectives are subsequently examined. We conclude by discussing the status of authentic leadership theory with respect to its purpose, construct definitions, historical foundations, consideration of context, relational/processual focus, attention to levels of analysis and temporality, along with a discussion of promising directions for future research.
We conducted a two-study examination of relationships between abusive supervision and subordinates' workplace deviance. Consistent with predictions derived from power/dependence theory, the results of a cross-sectional study with employees from three organizations suggest that abusive supervision is more strongly associated with subordinates' organization deviance and supervisor-directed deviance when subordinates' intention to quit is higher. The results also support the prediction that when intention to quit is higher, abusive supervision is more strongly associated with supervisor-directed deviance than with organization-directed deviance. These results were replicated in a second study, a two-wave investigation of people employed in a variety of industries and occupations.
The convergence on the Big Five in personality theory has produced a demand for efficient yet psychometrically sound measures. Therefore, five single‐item measures, using bipolar response scales, were constructed to measure the Big Five and evaluated in terms of their convergent and off‐diagonal divergent properties, their pattern of criterion correlations and their reliability when compared with four longer Big Five measures. In a combined sample (N = 791) the Single‐Item Measures of Personality (SIMP) demonstrated a mean convergence of r = 0.61 with the longer scales. The SIMP also demonstrated acceptable reliability, self–other accuracy, and divergent correlations, and a closely similar pattern of criterion correlations when compared with the longer scales. It is concluded that the SIMP offer a reasonable alternative to longer scales, balancing the demands of brevity versus reliability and validity. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
In recent studies of the structure of affect, positive and negative affect have consistently emerged as two dominant and relatively independent dimensions. A number of mood scales have been created to measure these factors; however, many existing measures are inadequate, showing low reliability or poor convergent or discriminant validity. To fill the need for reliable and valid Positive Affect and Negative Affect scales that are also brief and easy to administer, we developed two 10-item mood scales that comprise the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). The scales are shown to be highly internally consistent, largely uncorrelated, and stable at appropriate levels over a 2-month time period. Normative data and factorial and external evidence of convergent and discriminant validity for the scales are also presented.
Although covariance structure analysis is used increasingly to analyze nonexperimental data, important statistical requirements for its proper use are frequently ignored. Valid conclusions about the adequacy of a model as an acceptable representation of data, which are based on goodness-of-fit test statistics and standard errors of parameter estimates, rely on the model estimation procedure being appropriate for the data. Using analogies to linear regression and anova, this review examines conditions under which conclusions drawn from various estimation methods will be correct and the consequences of ignoring these conditions. A distinction is made between estimation methods that are either correctly or incorrectly specified for the distribution of data being analyzed, and it is shown that valid conclusions are possible even under misspecification. A brief example illustrates the ideas. Internet access is given to a computer code for several methods that are not available in programs such as EQS or LISREL.
Confirmatory factor analysis Statistical Methods for Health Care Researchers
- K I F Aroian
- A E Norris
Aroian, K.I.F. and Norris, A.E. (2005), " Confirmatory factor analysis ", in Munro, B.H. (Ed.), Statistical Methods for Health Care Researchers, Lippincot Williams & Wilkings, Philadelphia, PA, pp. 351-75.
Transformational Leadership: Industry, Military, and Educational Impact
- B.M. Bass
Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire: Manual Leader Form, Rater, and Scoring Key for MLQ (Form 5x-Short)
- B.M Bass
- B.J. Avolio
Utbildning i ledarskapets mörka sidor med fokus på underställdas motivation (Education in the Dark Sides of Leadership with Focus on the Motivation of Subordinates), Department of Leadership and Management
- M Fors
- S Nilsson
- G Larsson
STREAMS User's Guide (Version 1.6 for Windows)
- J.-E Gustafsson
- P A Stahl
Hogan Development Survey Manual
- R Hogan
- J Hogan
A Look at Derailment Today: North America and Europe
- J B Leslie
- E Van Velsor
Forskningsetiska principer inom humanistisk-samhällsvetenskaplig forskning
- Swedish Research Council
The destructiveness of laissez-faire leadership behaviour Forskningsetiska principer inom humanistisk-samhä llsvetenskaplig forskning (Research Ethical Principles in Humanistic-Social Research Consequences of abusive supervision
- A Skogstad
- S Einarsen
- T Torsheim
- M Schanke Aasland
- H Hetland
Skogstad, A., Einarsen, S., Torsheim, T., Schanke Aasland, M. and Hetland, H. (2007), " The destructiveness of laissez-faire leadership behaviour ", Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 80-92. LODJ 33,4 Swedish Research Council (2002), Forskningsetiska principer inom humanistisk-samhä llsvetenskaplig forskning (Research Ethical Principles in Humanistic-Social Research), Vetenskapsrå, Stockholm. Tepper, B.J. (2000), " Consequences of abusive supervision ", Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 43 No. 2, pp. 178-90.
A theory of therapy, personality and interpersonal relationships, as developed in a client-centered framework Psychology: A Study of Science The prevalence of destructive leadership behaviour
- C R M Rogers
- A Skogstad
- G Notelaers
- M Birkeland
- S Einarsen
Rogers, C.R. (1959), " A theory of therapy, personality and interpersonal relationships, as developed in a client-centered framework ", in Koch, S. (Ed.), Psychology: A Study of Science, Vol. 3, McGraw-Hill, Toronto, pp. 184-256. Schanke Aasland, M., Skogstad, A., Notelaers, G., Birkeland, M. and Einarsen, S. (2010), " The prevalence of destructive leadership behaviour ", British Journal of Management, Vol. 21 No. 4, pp. 438-52.
Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire: Manual Leader Form, Rater, and Scoring Key for MLQ (Form 5x-Short), Mind Garden Bad is stronger than good
- B M Bass
- B M Bass
- B J Avolio
- R F Baumeister
- E Bratslavsky
- C Finkenauer
- K D Vohs
Bass, B.M. (1998), Transformational Leadership: Industry, Military, and Educational Impact, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, London. Bass, B.M. and Avolio, B.J. (2004), Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire: Manual Leader Form, Rater, and Scoring Key for MLQ (Form 5x-Short), Mind Garden, Redwood City, CA. Baumeister, R.F., Bratslavsky, E., Finkenauer, C. and Vohs, K.D. (2001), " Bad is stronger than good ", Reviews of General Psychology, Vol. 4 No. 5, pp. 323-70.
Statistical Methods for Health Care Researchers
- K I F Aroian
- A E Norris