ArticlePublisher preview available

The Causes and Consequences of Bad Leadership

Hogrefe Publishing
Zeitschrift für Psychologie
Authors:
Jan Schilling at Hochschule Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences and Arts
Jan Schilling
Birgit Schyns at NEOMA Business School
Birgit Schyns
Read publisher preview
Download citation
To read the full-text of this research, you can request a copy directly from the authors.
A preview of this full-text is provided by Hogrefe Publishing.
Content available from Zeitschrift für Psychologie 
This content is subject to copyright. Terms and conditions apply.
Editorial
The Causes and Consequences
of Bad Leadership
Jan Schilling
1
and Birgit Schyns
2
1
Department of Economics and Social Sciences: Work and Organizational Psychology,
University of Applied Administrative Sciences Hanover, Germany,
2
Durham University
Business School, Durham, UK
This topical issue of the Zeitschrift fr Psychologie focuses
on negative forms of leadership, that is, destructive leader-
ship in its different forms, rather than re-emphasizing the
still more common focus on positive leadership (Schilling,
2009). Here, the quest is not to find the holy grail of what
makes a leader successful and how this contributes to orga-
nizational success but rather the opposite: to prevent the
damage bad leadership and destructive leaders can do to
followers and organizations. In recent years, a quickly
growing stream of research concerning the dark side of
leadership has emerged (e.g., Bligh, Kohles, Pearce, Justin,
& Stovall, 2007; Einarsen, Aasland, & Skogstad, 2007;
Krasikova, Green, & LeBreton, 2013; Martinko, Harvey,
Brees, & Mackey, 2013; Tepper, 2000, 2007), which under-
pins the importance of the topic. While different forms of
destructive leadership (e.g., abusive supervision, petty
tyranny, negative leadership, aversive leadership) can be
distinguished, they all have been shown to negatively
impact followers and organizations (e.g., Schyns &
Schilling, 2013). However, so far, we know relatively little
about the antecedents of destructive leadership or how its
effect compares to constructive leadership. Hence, the
aim of this issue is to deepen our understanding of the phe-
nomenon by paying special attention to its antecedents and
the comparison of constructive and destructive forms of
leadership. In doing so, the papers compiled here add to
the discussion about how to prevent destructive leadership.
This topical issue starts off with a review paper by
Pundt (2014) who outlines the theory of different ways in
which charismatic leadership attempts can lead to abusive
leadership perception and/or abusive leadership behavior.
The author differentiates between failed charismatic
attempts from the leader’s side (overdramatized charisma,
overambitious charisma) and failed attempts due to follow-
ers’reactions (refused charisma, disappointed charisma,
and abandoned charisma). He argues that overdramatized
charisma and overambitious charisma can lead to abusive
leadership perceptions, while overambitious charisma,
refused charisma, disappointed charisma, and aban-
doned charisma can lead to abusive leadership behaviors.
The paper acknowledges the process character of leadership
by incorporating followers’reactions to leadership behavior
and appreciating that this reaction triggers another reaction
in the leader, potentially altering leadership perceptions or
behaviors.
Similarly, May, Wesche, Heinitz, and Kerschreiter
(2014) take an integrative view of negative leadership by
looking at the interaction process between leaders and fol-
lowers in coping with negative leadership. They argue that
destructive leader behavior as perceived by followers leads
to different types of follower coping, namely approach-
oriented coping (problem-focused or emotion-focused)
and avoidance-oriented coping (problem-focused or emo-
tion-focused). Depending on how these coping strategies
are perceived by the leader, their destructive leadership
behavior is either enforced (due to perceptions of the fol-
lower coping behavior as either aggressive/retaliatory or
submissive) or potentially altered into a more constructive
leadership approach (due to perceptions of the follower
coping behavior as constructive).
Keller Hansbrough and Jones (2014) focus on the lead-
ers’part in abusive supervision by considering leader nar-
cissism as an antecedent of abusive leadership. They
develop a model that explains how narcissistic leaders’cog-
nitive processes contribute to abusive supervision, insofar
as narcissistic leaders’cognitive processes lead them to jus-
tify their abusive behavior. Specifically, the authors argue
that narcissistic leaders’implicit leadership theories com-
prise elements of tyranny, that is, for them, tyrannical lead-
ership characterizes typical leaders, including themselves
(thus, their abusive behavior is normal for leaders). In addi-
tion, Keller Hansbrough and Jones argue that narcissistic
Ó2014 Hogrefe Publishing Zeitschrift fr Psychologie 2014; Vol. 222(4):187–189
DOI: 10.1027/2151-2604/a000185
... However, it is perceived as detrimental to employee and organizational performance Mackey (2021), high levels of interest raised in the certain leadership styles may hurt businesses and their workers, for instance, tyrannical leadership which is dictatorial and authoritarian (Balwant, 2021); abusive supervision when a boss verbally or physically mistreats subordinates (Tepper, 2000); destructive leadership which involves bullying or sabotage (Camgoz & Karapinar, 2021) and despotic leadership which restricts subordinates by controlling them (Jabeen & Rahim, 2021;Schilling & Schyns, 2015). Despotic leadership, according to De Hoogh and Den Hartog (2008), exemplifies significant harmful leadership styles. ...
... Despotic leadership is characterized by a leader's propensity to establish an autocratic and domineering environment for the sake of their own self-importance, advancement, and exploitation of subordinates. This leader then manipulates and exploits these subordinates for their own benefit (De Hoogh & Den Hartog, 2008;Jabeen & Rahim, 2021;Schilling & Schyns, 2015). Despotic leaders are likelier to exhibit supremacy and dominant behavior and have low ethical standards (Nauman, Fatima, & Haq, 2018). ...
... Despotic leaders' unethical and unfair behavior by indulging in morally corrupt and self-serving behavior (Aronson, 2001;Jabeen & Rahim, 2020). Leaders who display despotism are more likely to be authoritarian, according to research by (Schilling & Schyns, 2015). These bosses are notorious for using violent techniques to get what they want and for demanding absolute loyalty from their employees. ...
Understanding the Despotic Leadership and Perception of Politics in relation to Employee Outcome: A Systematic Literature Review
Article
Full-text available
  • Dec 2023
Since the turn of the millennium, the dark side of leadership is increasing scholarly attention both in general and specific contexts. Every organization may try to either reduce or exaggerate the prevalence and impact of despotic leadership and perception of politics. It is therefore pertinent to explore antecedents and outcomes of despotic leadership and POP and their relationship at the workplace. The purpose of this research is to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the academic literature addressing despotic leadership and the perception of politics (POP) inside organizations broadly. A total of 108 papers from 99 peer-reviewed journals met the criteria after a comprehensive and methodical search. Using what they've learned about despotic leadership behavior and how people see politics in general, the researchers rely on previous work on both topics before integrating them into their own theoretical framework. As a result of their efforts, a thorough framework is established, which classifies the sources cited and describes the causes and effects of POP and despotic leadership. This research lays the groundwork for further studies in the area by offering a critical review of the existing literature on despotic leadership and how people perceive organization politics.
View
... Organizations may learn a great deal about the elements that limit work-life balance, exacerbate job stress, and affect employee creativity and turnover intention by researching these variables. This study may assist companies in formulating plans and actions to foster a positive work atmosphere, lessen stress related to the job, encourage worklife balance, and boost employee innovation (Schilling, 2014). In the end, resolving these problems can benefit organizations and people by enhancing worker well-being, raising job satisfaction, and decreasing intention to leave. ...
... Work-life balance is crucial for employee psychological, emotional, and cognitive stability as well as productivity and corporate success, according to (Soomro et al., 2018). Workplace developments including globalization, shifting consumer preferences, and ongoing technology advancements exert stress on workers, causing work-life conflicts and employee attrition (Schilling, 2014). South African university research shows that who have a better work life balance have greater volatility intent (Adriano & Callaghan, 2020). ...
Administrative and Management Sciences Journal
Article
Full-text available
  • Nov 2024
The purpose of this study is to investigate the connection between employee creativity, work-life balance, job stress, and intention to leave. This study offered a thorough analysis of the body of research on the subject, looking at how these variables affect employees' intentions to leave their jobs. Additionally, the research addressed the consequences for organizations and offer management strategies for these aspects in order to decrease intention to leave and increase employee retention. Stress among bank workers seems to be a serious problem that affects how well the banking system operates. 384 personnel in the private banking industry provided information via questionnaires. The information was based on work-life balance, employee creativity, job stress, and intention to leave. With SMART-PLS 4.0, structural equation modelling was carried out. The current study offered a new viewpoint for financial institutions that want to manage worklife balance issues, that raise employee happiness, and lower the intention of employees to leave by focusing on stress management at work, and encouraging employee creativity at work. Through scheduled training sessions, organizations may enhance the communication channels and competencies of their middle management and employees as well.
View
... Past studies on destructive leadership have largely considered it unidimensional, which may limit understanding of which specific destructive leadership behaviors may influence employees' attitudes and behaviors (Schilling & Schyns, 2015). Jiang et al., (2017) suggested that it would be beneficial for research to determine the specific behaviors of a destructive leader because it could provide managerial implications for the organization to have a clear understanding of which dimension of destructive leadership promotes dissatisfaction and workplace deviance. ...
... Most studies on destructive leadership have treated this construct as unidimensional, which has limited understanding of which destructive leadership behaviors may trigger employees' negative attitudes and behaviors (Schilling & Schyns, 2015;Schyns & Schilling, 2013). In response to calls for more research on the negative consequences of destructive leadership and the mediation role of job dissatisfaction (Brandebo et al., 2018;Fischer et al., 2021;Kelloway et al., 2005;Skogstad et al., 2007), the current study filled these research gaps by investigating the impacts of different destructive leadership behaviors on job dissatisfaction and its later effect on individual and organizational workplace deviance. ...
Workplace deviance among healthcare professionals: the role of destructive leadership behaviors and citizenship pressure
Article
Full-text available
  • Mar 2023
Workplace deviance has long been a subject of discussion in various industries, including the healthcare sector. The poor working conditions in the nursing profession have made nurses feel pressured to perform more than their contractual tasks, resulting in job dissatisfaction, which has prompted them to engage in workplace deviance, which may jeopardize the hospital’s well-being and wealth. The negative behaviors exhibited by the nurses had a significant impact on hospital function, which may also endanger the lives of patients, which is an issue that warrants further investigation. The Pakistani nursing sector has been emphasized by the study due to the different working conditions in Pakistan as compared to Western countries. The nursing profession in Pakistan is different due to its dominant Islamic context. To elucidate the issue, this study aims to examine the influence of destructive leadership behaviors and citizenship pressure on job dissatisfaction among nurses and the influence of job dissatisfaction on workplace deviance. The role of job dissatisfaction as a mediator has also been examined. By adopting the quantitative approach, data were collected from 383 nurses in Pakistani Hospitals. Analysis was done using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings revealed that citizenship pressure and destructive leadership behaviors (i.e., laissez-faire, supportive-disloyal, and tyrannical leadership) are significant predictors of job dissatisfaction. Job dissatisfaction, in turn, was found to mediate the effect of citizenship pressure and all destructive leadership behaviors, except derailed leadership, on workplace deviance. The findings of the present study are theoretically and practically relevant as they provide new insights into the behavioral mechanisms that could be addressed to eliminate the occurrence of workplace deviance in the healthcare context.
View
... Nonprofit leaders who operate effectively demonstrate behaviors and characteristics that support the development of situations conducive to achieving organizational goals (Madanchian, 2017;Shier & Handy, 2020). Nonprofit organizations that are subject to ineffective or unethical leadership, however, often experience poor results and reduced long-term viability (Erickson et al., 2007;Schilling & Schyns, 2014). ...
A Scoping and Theoretical Review of Joy in Leadership in the Nonprofit Sector
Article
Full-text available
  • Dec 2024
Effective leadership plays a critical role in the success of organizations, particularly in the nonprofit sector, with positive leader affect, and more recently joy, being one aspect of leadership that significantly influences followers. Whilst some studies of positive affect and joy in leadership have been undertaken in the nonprofit sector, lack of clarity and coherence, as well as theoretical divergence has impeded research integration. This article presents the first systematic literature review of positive affect, and more specifically joy and leadership in the nonprofit sector and systematically identifies the extent to which joy has been considered as a discrete emotion in the current nonprofit leadership literature. In addition, this article synthesises the existing nonprofit leadership literature to determine what employee outcomes joy has been shown to influence. Finally, the quality of current literature and any patterns considering joy and leadership in the nonprofit leadership literature is assessed. Future research opportunities are identified.
View
... Owing to the importance of keywords to the literature search process (Ross, 2013;Scheffler & Brunzel, 2020;Turzo et al., 2022), in Step 1, we generated an overview of common keywords within this field of research. We then deduced an initial search string on the basis of previous research (Ashforth, 1997;Einarsen et al., 2007;Lipman-Blumen, 2005;Namie, 2007;Schilling & Schyns, 2014;Schyns & Hansbrough, 2010;Tepper, 2000). Because conducting a systematic review is an iterative process (Moher et al., 2009), we added additional keywords referring to negative leadership behaviours after screening the results obtained via these initial search terms. ...
The good, the bad and the evil: A unified conceptualization of negative leadership behaviour
Article
  • Oct 2024
The level of scholarly and practitioner interest in negative leadership behaviour has been increasing, but research in this field remains fragmented, and we lack a common understanding of what constitutes negative leadership behaviour and its antecedents, consequences and contexts. To address these research gaps, we systematically review 352 papers and identify 25 different negative leadership behaviours with large overlaps in their conceptualization and operationalization. Our analysis of conceptualizations reveals common attributes that constitute the behavioural intensity and the behavioural valence of negative leadership behaviour. Behavioural intensity attributes constitute negative leadership behaviour as active, reoccurring and intentional behaviour that targets subordinates’ psychological states. Behavioural valence attributes constitute negative leadership behaviour as being unethical, lack of empathy, leader self‐worthiness and self‐orientation, verbal hostility, use of power asymmetry and harming and belittling of others. The vast majority of operationalizations for negative leadership behaviour reflect the perceptions of subordinates or colleagues, whereas only a few operationalizations reflect supervisors’ self‐assessments. Our findings further reveal that the antecedents of negative leadership behaviour focus mainly on supervisors, whereas the consequences of negative leadership behaviour focus mainly on subordinates. We develop a unified conceptualization of negative leadership behaviour and discuss our findings in the light of an impactful future research agenda that revolves around the unified conceptualization and empirical representation of negative leadership behaviour on the basis of behavioural attributes, the role of subordinates and dyad‐related factors leading to negative leadership behaviour and the integration of the negative and positive psychological and economic consequences of negative leadership behaviour.
View
... Different leadership styles have a known impact on employees' emotions (Baig et al., 2021), and "employees' perceptions about the leader are likely to affect their attitudes" (Gkorezis et al., 2015, p. 622). In this context, destructive leadership styles (e.g., abusive supervision, petty tyranny, negative leadership) may trigger negative emotional reactions from employees (Schilling & Schyns, 2015), and increase employees' emotional exhaustion (Chi & Liang, 2013). According to the Emotional Dissonance theory, negative supervision may also lead employees to conceal their true emotions (Naseer & Raja, 2021). ...
The moderating role of psychological power distance on the relationship between destructive leadership and emotional exhaustion
Article
Full-text available
  • May 2024
  • CURR PSYCHOL
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.
View
... This result is aligned with those from previous studies showing that managers not engaging in leadership behaviors that meet their job demands tend to present poorer levels of wellbeing and higher levels of burnout (Kanste, 2008;Zopiatis et al., 2010). Laissez-faire leadership behaviors might be interpreted as a passive form of destructive leadership behaviors (Schilling & Schyns, 2014) that is likely to create stress and frustration among employees and leaders alike via, for example, role conflict or role ambiguity (Kelloway et al., 2005). This frustration, in turn, might hamper managers' wellbeing. ...
Managerial leadership behaviors: A longitudinal investigation of the role of job demands and resources, and implications for managers’ own wellbeing
Article
Full-text available
Although ample research has documented the implications, and organizational drivers, of leadership behaviors, very little research has considered these associations, and their consequences, from the perspective of managers. The present four-wave longitudinal study addresses this limitation by focusing, using the Job Demands-Resources model, on the work-related drivers (job control, recognition, and workload) of transformational, transactional and laissez-faire leadership behaviors, and the associations between these behaviors and manifestations of managers’ psychological wellbeing at work (job satisfaction, burnout, and turnover intentions). Analyzing data from 691 high-level managers (i.e., school principals) using novel random intercept cross-lagged panel model analyses, our results revealed that higher levels of job control and recognition, and lower levels of workload, predicted higher levels of transformational and transactional leadership behaviors. In contrast, laissez-faire leadership behaviors were only negatively predicted by recognition. Transformational leadership was associated with the most desirable outcome levels (higher levels of job satisfaction, lower levels of turnover intentions and burnout), followed by transactional and laissez-faire leadership. Most of these associations were limited to the between-person-level, reflecting stable mechanisms of influence, rather than at the within-person level, suggesting the presence of homeostatic mechanism helping high levels managers to maintain a stable level of functioning over time.
View
The Mediating Effect of Leader Resilience Profile on the Relationship Between Ethical Climate and Leadership Competence of School Heads: An Explanatory Sequential Design
Article
  • Jan 2024
The leadership competence of school heads is among the essential elements that determine the success and effectiveness of schools. The research design chosen for the study was the explanatory sequential design utilizing a survey questionnaire, IDI, and FGD as the mode of gathering data. It aimed to determine the mediating effect of leader resilience profile on the relationship between ethical climate and leadership competence of school heads, in the Division of Davao Oriental. The participants were the teachers from the public elementary and secondary schools in the Division of Davao Oriental, Philippines. The participants in the study were long-term educators with over three years of experience who willingly took part in both the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the research, including in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. The research employed various statistical methods, such as mean, standard deviation, Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient, multiple regression, and the Sobel test. The quantitative phase results revealed a very high status in ethical climate, leader resilience profile, and leadership competence of school heads. Data also showed a significant relationship between the ethical climate and leadership competence, leader resilience profile and leadership competence, and ethical climate and leader resilience profile. The mediating effect of the leader resilience profile between the relationship of school heads' ethical climate and leadership competence showed a partial but significant mediation. On the other hand, the participants' standpoints on the salient findings of the study identified four themes with the corresponding nature of data integration: holistic ethical leadership, morally aligned persevering leadership, enduring adaptive leadership and adaptability, and ethical leadership interplay are all connecting-validating nature of integration.
View
Identifying the prevalence of destructive leadership behavior and its determinants in northwest Ethiopia
Article
Full-text available
  • Feb 2024
Destructive leadership behaviors and their effects on the organization have received little attention in terms of research & theory development. As a result, the purpose of this article is to investigate the prevalence and determinants of destructive leadership behavior from the quantitative data collected through questionnaire. A total of 947 sample employees were included in this study stratified sampling technique. Personal behavior, ineffective decision, management incompetency, and political behavior have a positive significance difference at p = 0.01 after the data has been analyzed through factor analysis and regression analysis. However, at the 1% significance level, the difference in political behavior and negotiation problem is negative. On the other hand, poor communication has a negative relationship with destructive leadership behavior, but it is statistically insignificant at a 5% alpha level. According to the findings, ∼65% of public-sector employees in the Awi zone are susceptible to destructive leadership. In this case, the researchers recommended that organizations intentionally and consistently need to promote an environment in which employees feel free to speak up about leaders’ behavior that they believe it violates not only their own but also the organization’s values.
View
Overview of Types of Leadership for Start-Ups and MSMEs
Chapter
  • Dec 2022
It is the objective of this chapter to attempt to explore and define the many forms of negative leadership theories from literature and review the studies that have occurred on each type of leadership. The aim of this chapter is to showcase how each leadership can positively or negatively affect organisations, especially start-ups who are often considered vulnerable due to lack of resources. Such examples include destructive leadership, abusive leadership, dysfunctional leadership, aversive leadership, tyrannical leadership, and others. While some theories may be more applicable than others for start-ups, this chapter attempts to explore other less-discussed theories of leadership from literature but may be relevant such as dysfunctional leadership. Thus, the purpose of this chapter is to derive the countless leadership types identified in psychology and sociology literature and showcase an overview of these theories for start-ups and MSMEs.
View
View
View
Absence Makes the Errors Go Longer
Article
Full-text available
  • Jan 2014
Learning and innovation are increasingly important for companies to compete in a global marketplace. Leaders are often in a position to exert significant influence on employees’ learning behaviors, and may also be able to foster learning from workplace errors. This cross-sectional research investigates the relationship between employee perceptions of leadership style, mindset (fixed vs. growth), and orientation to error learning. We examine five leadership styles – authentic, transformational, transactional, laissez-faire, and aversive leadership – and view them on an extended range, from more positive (authentic, transformational, and transactional) to more negative and destructive (laissez-faire and aversive). A sample of 268 participants completed an on-line survey of their leaders’ styles, as well as their own mindsets, and their reactions to workplace errors. Results suggest that authentic and transformational leadership styles foster more employee error learning than transactional leadership, while laissez-faire and aversive leadership styles are destructive in that they actively inhibit employee error learning. Somewhat surprisingly, laissez-faire leadership showed the strongest and most negative effect on a follower’s error learning orientation, although followers with fixed mindsets reported being less likely to learn from errors than followers with growth mindsets, regardless of leadership style. Our findings shed light on the relationship between leadership style and employee error learning, and suggest that negligent leadership may be particularly destructive for organizations that seek to foster a learning environment.
View
A Multiple Pathway Model Linking Charismatic Leadership Attempts and Abusive Supervision
Article
Full-text available
  • Jan 2014
Researchers have theorized about a link between destructive and charismatic leadership but have left this link rather unspecified. This paper discusses charismatic leadership as an antecedent of abusive supervision. Based on the charismatic leadership process, it specifies five distinct pathways that may lead from charismatic leadership attempts to abusive supervision: Overdramatized charisma with abusive supervision as an unintended consequence, overambitious charisma with abusive supervision as a stress reaction, refused charisma with abusive supervision as a reaction to frustration and provocation, disappointed charisma with abusive supervision as a reaction to threatened self-esteem and negative affect, and abandoned charisma with abusive supervision as a volitional change of influence tactics. This paper aims to introduce these five pathways resulting in theoretical propositions that may inspire future empirical research.
View
Inside the Minds of Narcissists
Article
Full-text available
  • Jan 2014
Although a growing body of work examines follower outcomes of abusive supervision (see Schyns & Schilling, 2013; Tepper, 2007 for reviews), scant attention has been paid to the perpetrators despite Tepper’s (2007) call for future theoretical models to consider how leader characteristics, such as narcissism, might predispose leaders toward abusive behaviors. To address these issues, we develop a conceptual model that details how narcissistic leaders’ cognitive processes may promote abusive supervision.
View
The Relative Effects of Constructive, Laissez-Faire, and Tyrannical Leadership on Subordinate Job Satisfaction
Article
Full-text available
  • Oct 2014
Knowledge on short and long-term effects of perceived leadership behaviors on subordinates’ job satisfaction, and particularly so regarding the relative influences of constructive and destructive forms of leadership, is scarce. Based on two prospective and representative surveys, with time lags of 6 months (Study 1) and 2 years (Study 2), respectively, we investigated the relative influence of constructive, laissez-faire, and tyrannical leadership behaviors, respectively, on followers job satisfaction. Interestingly, destructive forms of leadership were the sole significant predictors in both studies. Tyrannical leadership predicted a decrease in subordinate job satisfaction over a 6-month period, while laissez-faire leadership turned out as the sole predictor of job satisfaction over a 2-year time lag. A reversed relationship was found between job satisfaction and subsequent perceived constructive leadership over the 6-month lag. Dissatisfied subordinates did not, however, report increased exposure to destructive forms of leadership, disconfirming the gloomy perception mechanism of dissatisfied and stressed subordinates to perceive their leaders in an ever more negative way. Hence, destructive forms of leadership seem to be better predictors of job satisfaction than are constructive forms of leadership which is in line with the notion that “bad is stronger than good.”
View
Coping With Destructive Leadership
Article
Full-text available
  • Oct 2014
The emerging literature on destructive leadership has been mostly leader centric, often reducing followers to passive subordinates. In line with recent follower-focused approaches to leadership, this theoretical contribution aims at shedding light on the interaction process between leaders and followers and on the active part followers can play in triggering as well as curbing destructive leader behavior. Specifically, we analyze in what ways followers can cope with destructive leadership and how the confrontativeness of the chosen coping strategy in turn affects leaders’ perceptions and resultant behaviors. The proposed interaction model – where subordinate coping is both consequence and antecedent of destructive leadership – offers testable propositions for future research and opens up new avenues for understanding and handling destructive leadership.
View
A review of abusive supervision research
Article
Full-text available
This paper reviews studies concerned with abusive supervision and provides a constructive revision of Tepper's 2007 model. As a result of our review of the recent research, we revised the 2007 Tepper model and added additional variables and casual paths to increase its explanatory potential. The model we propose distinguishes between abusive supervisory behavior and abusive supervisory perceptions, suggesting that each of these variables needs to be studied separately until we know more about how they are related. The revised model also explicitly recognizes possibilities for reverse causation and stresses the importance of subordinates' individual differences such as attribution style, negative affectivity, and implicit work theories, which have the potential to account for significant variability in subordinates' perceptions of abuse. Suggestions for future research based on the original relationships identified by the Tepper review as well as the variables and causal paths suggested in the revised model are provided. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
View
Destructive Leadership A Theoretical Review, Integration, and Future Research Agenda
Article
Full-text available
  • Jul 2013
In this article, we propose a framework for understanding destructive leadership that summarizes the extant destructive leadership research and extends it in new directions. By reviewing the current literature on destructive leadership and drawing on organizational leadership theory and the more general research on deviant behaviors in organizations, we identify the underlying features and mechanisms that define destructive leadership. Recognizing that each form of destructive leadership currently studied (e.g., abusive supervision, petty tyranny, and pseudo-transformational leadership) addresses aspects of destructive leadership but fails to capture the complete picture of the phenomenon, we clarify the boundaries among the constructs studied within the domain of destructive leadership, address some ambiguities about the nature of destructive leadership, make explicit some characteristics of destructive leadership that set it apart from other forms of leading, and integrate this thinking into a theoretical model that helps us understand the manifestations of destructive leadership, and their antecedents and consequences.
View
How bad are the effects of bad leaders? A meta-analysis of destructive leadership and its outcomes
Article
  • Feb 2013
  • LEADERSHIP QUART
While the focus on constructive leadership still dominates leadership research, an increasing number of studies investigate different forms of destructive leadership. This meta-analysis integrates different conceptualizations of destructive leadership and analyzes the relationship between destructive leadership and outcome variables. The search for articles yielded more than 200 studies of which 57 could be included in the meta-analysis. Results indicate the expected negative correlations with positive followers' outcomes and behaviors (e.g., attitudes towards the leader, well-being, and individual performance) and positive correlations with negative outcomes (e.g., turnover intention, resistance towards the leader, counterproductive work behavior). As expected, the highest correlation arises between destructive leadership and attitudes towards the leader. Surprisingly, the next highest correlation was found between destructive leadership and counterproductive work behavior. After discussing the results, an agenda for future research is proposed. Given the negative impact of destructive leadership, more knowledge is especially necessary regarding what triggers destructive leadership.
View