What about the “soft factors”? Longitudinal effects of leadership behaviors on psychological resources of firefighters

Abstract

In addition to adequate training and reliable equipment, firefighters need robust psychological resources (e.g., self-efficacy, team cohesion) to sustain readiness for potential deployment in large-scale disasters. However, recurrent exposure to emergency situations in their every-day work poses a threat to psychological resources and jeopardizes readiness. In this study, we examine how leaders in fire services support their subordinates in maintaining high levels of these resources. We hypothesize that person-oriented leadership is particularly effective in this respect. Specifically, we predict that person-oriented leader behaviors increase subordinates' psychological resources and magnify the benefits of their performance behaviors in terms of resource acquisition. In a preregistered longitudinal study (five monthly measurements) with firefighters in Germany (N = 189), we tested our hypotheses using random intercept cross-lagged panel modeling. In line with our expectations, perceived person-oriented leader behaviors predicted subordinates' resources on a month-to-month basis, and also in an additional follow-up survey one year later. However, person-oriented leadership did not increase the return on subordinates' performance behavior in terms of resources. Notably, perceived task-oriented leader behaviors also predicted subordinates’ resources, but only on a month-to-month basis. We discuss possible mechanisms and time frames of the observed effects. Together, our findings indicate that person-oriented leadership can counteract resource depletion due to adverse working conditions and, thus, add to higher levels of readiness. Policymakers and senior executives may foster this effect by integrating person-oriented competencies into leadership norms and training programs.