Get Angry or Get Compassionate? How Leader Displays of Moral Emotions Influence Leader Effectiveness

Abstract

Ethical transgressions in organizations are emotionally evocative events, yet it is not fully understood how leader emotional responses in these situations influences their perceived effectiveness. In this research, we draw on emotions as social information theory to compare how leader effectiveness is impacted by display of two moral emotions amongst leaders: anger and compassion. Across three studies with full-time employees, including two experiments and a critical incident design, we document several key results. First, anger (versus compassion) led to greater perceived leader effectiveness when leaders did not punish transgressing employees, but given that the leader punished the employees, leader compassion resulted in greater perceived leader effectiveness. Second, the degree to which the transgressing employee expressed guilt for the transgression diminished the effectiveness of leader anger. Additionally, benevolence-based trust mediated the positive effect of leader compassion on leader effectiveness. Leaders who expressed anger were seen as more effective in part due to increased integrity-based trust, benevolence-based trust, social intelligence, and leader prototypicality, but only when employee guilt was low. Collectively, these results highlight the effectiveness of a “tough love” approach, whereby leaders punish transgressing employees to correct and disincentivize unethical behavior, yet also demonstrate compassion for their welfare.