Abstract
While previous research has mainly considered leadership as an antecedent to psychological distress and role stressors (i.e., role ambiguity and role conflict) among subordinates, a reverse relationship where these variables influence reports of leadership is also possible. To determine the directionality of the associations this two-wave prospective study assesses bidirectional relationships between fair leadership and role stressors and examines whether psychological distress mediates the reciprocal associations between fair leadership and the role stressors. Analyses were conducted in a sample of 6,790 Norwegian employees with a 2-year time-lag between measurement points. Fair leadership was associated with lower stability adjusted role ambiguity, but not role conflict, over time. Role conflict, but not role ambiguity, was related to subsequent reports of the immediate leader as less fair. Psychological distress did neither mediate the relationship between fair leadership and subsequent reports of role stressors, nor the association between role stressors and subsequent reports of fair leadership. The findings suggest that the fair leadership – role stressor association is not a one-directional process, but that exposure to role stressors also influence subordinates’ perceptions of leadership. An implication of the findings is that theoretical models of organizational leadership should include this reverse impact of role stressors. To reduce the effects of role stressors, organizations could set consistent, clear and attractive goals and provide employees with necessary information for conducting their work tasks in order to help workers understand and master their roles at the workplace.
Highlights
In the context of the workplace, justice refers to employees’ perceptions of whether they have been treated fairly in their jobs and the ways in which those perceptions influence other organizational outcomes (Colquitt et al, 2005)
Rather than treating fair leadership solely as an antecedent to employees’ psychological health and working conditions, we suggest that research must consider the possibility of a reverse relationship where the subordinates’ perceptions of leadership fairness can be influenced by their working conditions and psychological health (Tang, 2014)
Comparisons of model fit showed that the model with four correlated factors was superior to models with one, two and, three correlated factors indicating that fair leadership, role ambiguity, role conflict, and psychological distress represents unique constructs
Summary
In the context of the workplace, justice refers to employees’ perceptions of whether they have been treated fairly in their jobs and the ways in which those perceptions influence other organizational outcomes (Colquitt et al, 2005). Fair Leadership and Role Stressors important influence on how the subordinates perceive their job (van Knippenberg et al, 2007; Long, 2016). Based on this line of reasoning, having a fair leader should contribute to favorable psychosocial working conditions and protect the psychological health of subordinates. While this perspective of leadership is in line with the general assumption that the practices and behavior of leaders cause changes in subordinates, the idea of leadership as a mainly onedirectional process should be questioned. While a fair leader may have an impact on how subordinates perceive work, other aspects of work and working conditions may influence the subordinates’ perceptions of the leader as fair
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