Negative Leadership Behaviors Research Articles

Status and Influencing Factors of Nurses’ Perception of Toxic Leadership Behavior: A Cross-Sectional Study

Aim. The aim of this study is to analyse the toxic leadership behavior of nurse managers perceived by nurses and its related factors. Background. Toxic leadership is becoming more common as a risk factor in nursing. However, there is a scarcity of research on the elements that influence toxic leadership practices from the perspective of nurses’ perceptions. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 455 nurses from August to October 2022. A demographic information questionnaire and a negative behavior scale for nurse managers were used. Descriptive statistics, Kruskal–Wallis H test or Mann–Whitney U test, and multiple linear regression were used to explore the relevant factors of nurses’ perceived toxic leadership behaviors of nurse managers. Results. The population was dominated by 423 (92.97%) females, 318 (69.89%) married, and 420 (92.31%) with a bachelor’s degree. The toxic leadership behavior scale score for nurse managers was 109 (87, 123) and the score for each entry was (2.94 ± 0.92). Gender, educational level, department, number of night shifts, and nature of employment were the influencing factors of the negative leadership behavior of nurse leaders as perceived by nurses ( P < 0.05), explaining a total of 43.1% of the total variance. Conclusion. In general, nurses’ perceived toxic leadership behaviors of nurse managers were at a moderate level. More toxic leadership behaviors were observed by nurses who were female, less educated, on busy units, with unstable nature of appointments, and with frequent night shift rotation. Implications for Nursing Management. Focus on the psychological condition of nurses who are female, less educated, work in busy units, have an unstable nature of employment, and rotate night shifts frequently. The negative impacts of toxic leadership behaviors might be lessened as a result.

Unintended influence of leader forgiveness: increased employee cyberloafing

PurposeThe substantial cost of employee cyberloafing to organizations calls for research into exploring the factors that influence such behavior. Drawing upon social cognitive theory, the authors develop a theoretical model that unpacks when and why leader forgiveness induces employee cyberloafing. Specifically, the authors identify moral disengagement as a linking mechanism and employee empathic concern as a key boundary condition in the association between leader forgiveness and employee cyberloafing behaviors.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted multilevel analyses to examine the authors' hypotheses by utilizing a sample of 71 supervisors and 306 direct reports.FindingsResults showed that leader forgiveness encouraged employee cyberloafing via moral disengagement among employees with low empathic concern, whereas the indirect effect was not present among those with high empathic concern.Originality/valueThe authors contribute to the literature on cyberloafing and leader forgiveness. First, this study extends the cyberloafing research by considering leader forgiveness as an enabler, challenging the dominant notion that positive leader behaviors (e.g. leader mindfulness) constrain employee cyberloafing while negative leader behaviors (e.g. abusive supervision) elicit it. Second, although past studies have predominantly concentrated on the positive outcomes of forgiveness, the current research contributes to the balanced and comprehensive understanding of leader forgiveness by linking leader forgiveness with employee cyberloafing.

Toxic leadership, mental well-being and work engagement among nurses: a scale adaptation study and structural equation model approach

PurposeAlthough the background on positive and supportive leadership styles and their positive effects is constantly increasing, it is known that negative and destructive leadership styles are less researched. Thus, examining the toxic leadership behaviors of nurse managers and the effects of these on nurses has a critical significance. When the measurement tools evaluating toxic leadership are examined, it is seen that there is a need for measurement tools that evaluate the toxic leadership behaviors of nurse managers. This study's purpose is to psychometrically examine the Turkish version of the Toxic Leadership Behaviors of Nurse Managers (ToxBH-NM-TR) Scale and test the hypothesized conceptual model that includes the relationships between toxic leadership, mental well-being and work engagement.Design/methodology/approachThis quantitative research was carried out in psychometric, correlational and cross-sectional design. A total of 559 nurses were included in the study by using the convenience sample method. The ToxBH-NM-TR Scale, Warwick–Edinburg Mental Well-Being Scale and Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) were used to measure the latent variables of the study. The data were collected between June and October 2020 with the online survey method. IBM SPSS Statistics 24 and Amos 21 statistical programs were used to analyze the data.FindingsThe scale-content validity index of the ToxBH-NM-TR was 0.88. Confirmatory factor analysis results showed that the fit indices were acceptable. The ToxBH-NM-TR had high internal consistency and temporal stability. In addition, the relationships between the latent variables of the study were in the expected direction and statistically significant (p < 0.001). The hypothesized conceptual model showed an acceptable or good fit to the data. Mental well-being partially mediated the relationship between toxic leadership and work engagement. The study showed that the ToxBH-NM-TR is a valid and reliable instrument and provided evidence that confirmed the hypothesized conceptual model.Research limitations/implicationsThe first of these is the fact that managers' toxic leadership behaviors were determined based on nurses' self-report. For this reason, participants' potential prejudices may have affected the results of the study. The second limitation concerns the data collection technique. Using face-to-face data collection techniques during the COVID-19 pandemic could create a danger/risk for the health of nurses, researchers and patients. Therefore, the nurses in this research were reached through an online survey on social media platforms. The participants of the study were limited to those who had access to social media. Finally, some socio-demographic and professional characteristics of the participants may be a confounding variable for the model. For this reason, this conceptual model needs to be validated on other samples in different countries to increase the generalizability of the research results.Practical implicationsThe characteristics of this leadership style should be understood, and its effects on employees and organizations should be evaluated by screening regularly to prevent the development of toxic leaders and to eliminate the harmful effects of their behavior. The nurses should respond decisively to the forces that cause them to submit in order not to encourage a toxic leadership style. Healthcare institutions should develop procedures and take a proactive approach to destructive and negative leadership behaviors and practices. In addition, nurse managers should get feedback by using informal networks and 360-degree assessment tools and evaluate whether their leadership has a toxic function by regularly screening the effects of their leadership.Originality/valueThe results of this study offer important implications for nurses, managers and healthcare institutions and can be useful in gaining awareness about the negative effects of a toxic leadership style. In addition, the study provides a valid and reliable scale that will enable the identification of managers with this leadership style to prevent the development of toxic leaders and eliminate the harmful effects of their behavior.

Study on the influence mechanism of leaders’ abusive supervision on employees’ bootlegging innovation behavior

Purpose Employees’ bootlegging innovation behavior is common and plays an important role in enterprise management. Based on the resource conservation theory and self-regulation theory, the purpose of this study is to explore the influence mechanism of leaders’ abusive supervision on employees’ bootlegging innovation behavior, with psychological safety as a mediator and mindfulness at workplace as a moderator. Design/methodology/approach Survey data were gathered from 591 employees’ self-assessment questionnaires in China. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the research model through SPSS and AMOS. Findings This study found that the leaders’ abusive supervision negatively affects employees’ bootlegging innovation behavior; employees’ psychological safety completely mediates the negative effect of leaders’ abusive supervision on employees’ bootlegging innovation behavior; and mindfulness at work moderates the influence of leaders’ abusive supervision on employee’ bootlegging innovation behavior, as well as the influence of leaders’ abusive supervision on employees’ psychological safety. Research limitations/implications This study has significant implications in passive leadership that affect employees’ innovation. Authors found that leaders’ abusive supervise, mindfulness at workplace play a crucial role in employees’ bootleg innovation through psychological safety. Originality/value Theoretically, this study has enriched the antecedent research on employees’ bootlegging innovation behavior from the perspective of negative leadership behavior and employee psychology. And this study considered mindfulness at workplace as a boundary condition.

When Leadership Attacks: Stories of Surviving the Worst Bosses

When Leadership Attacks: Stories of Surviving the Worst Bosses

The Effects of Leadership Behaviors of Secondary School Administrators on Staff Job Satisfaction in TRNC

Job satisfaction levels are important for people who spend most of their days at work. In the literature, there are studies on many factors that may affect the job satisfaction of employees. It is seen that the leadership behaviors of school principals affect teachers. This research aims to reveal the effects of school administrators’ leadership behaviors on teachers’ job satisfaction. A qualitative research technique was used in this study. Twenty-five secondary school teachers participated in this study. Research data were collected through a semi-structured interview form prepared by the researcher. The data were analyzed through the content analysis technique. The findings showed that the job satisfaction levels of the teachers were not sufficient, and the positive and negative leadership behaviors of the school principals affected the teacher job satisfaction.

Are satisfied employees less inclined to quit? Moderating effects of human capital and abusive supervision

PurposeThe study investigates the moderating effect of individual human capital in the relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intention. In addition, the moderating effect of abusive supervision on moderation by individual human capital was considered.Design/methodology/approachThis study used cross-sectional, self-reported data from 133 human resource specialists and their supervisors, who responded to a matching dyad survey.FindingsThe study found that human capital moderated the negative effects of job satisfaction on turnover intention. The results also verified the moderated moderating effect of abusive supervision on the interaction effect of human capital and job satisfaction on turnover intention. More specifically, the moderating effect of human capital on the relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intention was more pronounced when employees perceived high levels of abusive supervision.Originality/valueThe study developed a moderated moderation model to understand the risk of human capital and abusive supervision for an organization and provided a new perspective indicating that job satisfaction is a key determinant in retaining low-human capital employees but not high-human capital employees. Accordingly, companies may strategically choose to employ suitable employees, rather than star employees. In addition, talent management should focus beyond reward/compensation and prevent negative leadership behaviors.

독재적 리더십과 구성원의 주도적 행동 - LMX의 매개역할 및 성장욕구 강도의 조절효과 -

This study began with the question of whether there is an indicator that can accurately measure the importance of the role of a leader in organizational life. Strictly speaking, the behavior of a leader is bound to have a positive or negative effect on his or her subordinates, that is, subordinates of the organization. It may be due to the influence of the power of the leader. Leadership research mostly studies the leadership effect in a positive aspect. It can be said that the term Leadership has a positive meaning. Although the concepts and definitions of leadership revealed through positive leadership behavior are different, many studies have suggested that they have a positive effect on a number of variables such as job attitude, job performance, and organizational performance of members. However, research on the negative effects of leaders' actions, that is, negative leadership, is increasing recently. It was revealed that the negative leadership type, named Destructive Leadership, negatively affects the job satisfaction of subordinates. Einarsen et al. (2007) defined leaders' destructive behavior as behavior that negatively affects not only members but also organizations, negatively affecting organizational goals, tasks, resources, effectiveness, motivation, and well-being or job satisfaction of subordinates. Several types of negative leadership behavior have been suggested, but this study intensively studied autocratic leadership. A number of previous studies have shown that autocratic leadership induces negative feelings for leaders' behaviors by ignoring subordinates' opinions or excluding them from the decision-making process, ultimately adversely affecting job attitudes and commitment for achieving organizational goals. This study is an empirical study conducted to clarify the mediating effect of the leader-member exchange(LMX) in the relationship between autocratic leadership and subordinate proactive behavior. As a result of analyzing 272 ROK Air Force officers and NCOs, it was found that autocratic leadership had a negative (-) relationship that negatively affected the leader-member exchange, and that the leader-member exchange mediated the negative effect of autocratic leadership on proactive behavior. In addition, the effect of controlling the relationship between autocratic leadership and leader-member exchange was also confirmed by the strength of the subordinates' growth needs. The higher growth need strength, the stronger the negative effect of autocratic leadership on the leader-member exchange. Through this study, it was confirmed that autocratic leadership undermines the leader-member exchange, and through this, subordinates engage in less proactive and non-participating behaviors. Research revealing the negative effects of autocratic leadership is increasing abroad, but there are few cases of empirical research on domestic cases. The results of this study show that leader's negative behavior can negatively affect the proactive behavior of subordinates for the organization are examples of how important leaders' roles and behaviors can have, and provide implications in many aspects.

Showing one's true colors: Leader Machiavellianism, rules and instrumental climate, and abusive supervision

SummaryMachiavellian (Mach) leaders' tendency to engage in hostile, abusive behavior is destructive for followers and organizations. Yet previous studies suggest that Machs do not always show negative leader behaviors such as abusive supervision. Drawing on trait activation theory, we propose that the manifestation of Mach trait‐relevant behavior depends upon contextual cues from the psychological work climate. Specifically, we argue that a low rule climate or a high instrumental climate offers relevant cues for Mach trait expression. We find support for our hypotheses in two studies of 219 and 183 leader–follower dyads. Both for a low rule climate and a high instrumental climate, leader Machiavellianism is positively related to leader abusive supervision, which, in turn, is negatively related to subordinate OCB and positively related to subordinate emotional exhaustion. However, when rule climate is high or instrumental climate is low, Mach behavior is not expressed, and thus, there is no indirect effect of leader Machiavellianism on follower OCB and emotional exhaustion through leader abusive supervision. Thus, our study shows that the psychological work climate is critical for the expression of leader Machiavellianism in abusive behavior and the related negative consequences to occur.

Disengaging Leadership Scale (DLS): Evidence of Initial Validity.

The main goal of this study was to develop a scale for measuring Disengaging Leader-ship (DEL) behaviors and to provide preliminary evidence for the validity of this new instrument. Developing such new measures is needed given current concepts that tap into negative leadership behaviors are rarely based on a sound theoretical framework. Drawing on the core premises of Self-Determination Theory (SDT) regarding employees’ basic needs and, more specifically, building on its more recent extended framework, including employees’ needs frustration, we derived four dimensions that constitute Disengaging Leadership behaviors (coercive disengaging leadership, isolating disengaging leadership, eroding disengaging leadership, and demotivating disengaging leadership). To examine the factor structure and psychometric properties of the new Disengaging Leadership Scale (DLS), Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), and reliability analyses were conducted. Results supported the hypothesized four-factor structure of the DLS and showed that this factorial structure remained invariant across employees occupying blue-collar, white-collar, or managerial positions. Finally, we successfully tested convergent, divergent, and construct validity of DLS. We established that DEL is associated with employees’ needs frustration and with their experiences of emotional exhaustion. It is concluded that the DLS has sound psychometric properties and can be used in future research on the dark side of leadership.

Impact of toxic leadership on the intention to leave: a research on permanent and contracted hospital employees

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the impact of toxic leadership, organizational justice and organizational silence on hospital employees' intention to leave their jobs.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire survey was conducted with permanent and contractual employees of a university teaching hospital, including nurses, medical assistants, health technicians and clerical staff. Structural equation modeling was used to develop and test the model.FindingsThe findings reveal that toxic leadership is directly and negatively related to organizational justice, while all dimensions of organizational silence and the intention to leave are positively related. In this model, the coefficients of the relationships are found to be higher, almost doubling in permanent employees than in contracted employees, except for the relationship between toxic leadership and silence to protect the organization. This exception lies in the fact that permanent workers with long-term employment have been dealing with the managers for many years.Research limitations/implicationsThe model can be extended with counterproductive behavior, work performance and satisfaction measures and work stress and compared with different sectors using higher sample volumes.Originality/valueIn the human-centered health-care industry, it is essential to know the way leadership behaviors guide health-care professionals. The negative leadership behaviors can negatively affect both employees' self-esteem and their attitudes toward patients and their relatives. The results of the present study are expected to contribute to the development of more effective manager selection and promotion policies by policy-makers as well as the determination of short- and long-term employment policies.

The influence of leadership behavior on miners’ work safety behavior

Unsafe behavior among miners is the main cause of accidents in coal mines, and leadership behavior has important impacts on miners’ work safety behavior. To reduce unsafe behavior among miners, this paper tested a hypothesis regarding the influence of leadership behavior on miners’ work safety behavior, and constructed a conceptual model of the relationship between leadership behavior and miners’ work safety behavior. By analyzing the influence of various leadership behaviors on miners’ work safety behavior, we defined positive leadership behavior and negative leadership behavior, with miner satisfaction as a mediator for determining the relevant dimensions of each variable. Using an empirical research method, 300 employees from two coal mines were selected to participate in a questionnaire survey. SPSS21.0 software was used to analyze the questionnaire data, and the hypothesized relationship between variables was examined using AMOS 17.0 software. The results revealed that miner satisfaction mediated the relationship between leadership behavior and miners’ work safety behavior. Negative leadership behavior was significantly negatively correlated with miners’ work safety behavior, and its effects were greater than those of positive leadership behavior. In addition, leadership incentive behavior had the greatest impact on miners’ work safety behavior.

Examining the Threatened Manager: Effects of and Responses to Leader Identity Threat

One of the most challenging features of a managerial role is the exposure individuals have to informal negative feedback from subordinates, peers, and supervisors. Although such feedback is an inevitable component of a manager’s job, we suggest that it can interrupt a manager’s sense of self, or identity, such that their well-being and behavior is negatively affected. Drawing from identity theory and identity perspectives on leadership and stress, this research introduces the phenomenon of leader identity threats— a situation where claims to leadership are not reciprocated through grants of leadership from others. In a two-wave survey of 158 full- time managers from a variety of industries and organizations, we found that managers who experienced leader identity threats to a greater degree in the last year were more likely to experience psychological strain, form intentions to turnover, and self-report negative leader behaviors. Contrary to expectations, support from supervisors did not reduce the negative effects of leader identity threat; indeed, leader identity threat actually negated the positive effects of such support. A third survey employing a critical incidents technique led us to identify four response tactics that managers use to address leader identity threats, including derogating, confessing, teaching, and feedback-seeking. These inductively derived tactics were supplemented by four additional deductively derived responses (withdrawing, shifting, re-framing, and importance change). Finally, through content validation, EFA, and CFA, a scale was developed to measure these eight response tactics. We close by discussing the implications of these findings for organizations, and for future research furthering this line of inquiry.

Effect of negative leadership behavior in nursing management on the nurses' sense of professional mission and patient satisfaction

Objective To investigate the current situation of negative leadership behavior in hospital nursing management, analyze the relationship and influence between negative leadership behavior and nurses' sense of professional mission and patients' satisfaction, and provide theoretical basis for reducing negative leadership behavior in nursing management and improving nurses' sense of professional mission and nursing quality. Methods From January 2017 to July 2018, 260 clinical nurses from three hospitals in Hangzhou were selected by convenience sampling method. General Information Questionnaire, Negative Leadership Scale, Professional Mission Questionnaire and Nursing Job Satisfaction Scale were used in the questionnaire survey. The negative leadership behavior in hospital nursing management and its influence on nurses' sense of professional mission and patients' satisfaction were analyzed. A total of 271 questionnaires were distributed to the nursing staff and 260 valid questionnaires were retrieved. Results Among the 260 nurses surveyed, 22.69% encountered autocratic and selfish leadership, 30.77% encountered unfaithful leadership, 55.00% experienced constructive leadership, and the total average score of items in Negative Leadership Scale was (1.58±0.76) . Autocratic and selfish leadership behavior was negatively correlated with nurses' sense of professional mission and nursing quality (P<0.01) , unfaithful leadership behavior was negatively correlated with nurses' sense of professional mission and nursing quality (P<0.01) , and constructive leadership behavior was positively correlated with nurses' sense of professional mission and nursing quality (P<0.01) . Conclusions There are some arbitrary, selfish and unfaithful negative leadership behaviors in hospital management, which have a negative impact on nurses' sense of professional mission and patients' satisfaction. Effective measures should be taken to intervene. Key words: Nursing management; Nurses; Negative leadership behavior; Sense of professional mission; Patients' satisfaction; Correlation

Subordinate reactions to ethical leaders’ abusive behavior: a multiple‐wave study

This paper examines the role of ethical leadership in mitigating the effects of abusive supervision and subsequent impact on employee outcomes including interaction justice, job attitudes and well‐being. We examined two sets of moderated mediating models to link positive and negative leader behaviors together by taking on a subordinate‐centric perspective. The first set stipulates that prior ethical leadership, as a moral licence, will reduce the negative impact of subsequent abusive supervision on interactional justice, which, in turn, will enhance subordinates’ job‐related attitudes and well‐being. The second set hypothesizes that prior ethical leadership will accentuate the importance of interactional justice, making subordinates more easily influenced by subsequent abusive supervision. Data were obtained from full‐time Chinese employees by using a three‐wave time lagged design (n = 223). The results generally supported our second hypothesized model. Specifically, interactional justice mediated the relations between abusive supervision and work outcomes. Moreover, prior ethical leadership moderated the interactional justice–work outcome relations as well as the indirect effect of abusive supervision on work outcomes via interactional justice.

Impact of Dysfunctional Leadership on Organizational Performance

Academic and business literature mostly focuses on the positive traits of the leadership. Even though, there is a surge in the number of research papers published on negative leadership behaviors, there is a gap in literatureproviding a review of the impact of dysfunctional (or toxic) leadership practices on organizational culture and performance. In this paper, we are defining the key behavioral traits of dysfunctional leaders, categorise them into authoritarian, narcissist, abusive, unpredictable, Machiavellian leadership styles, and provide an overview of the potential impacts that can be observed in organizational behavior and results.

An uncertainty management theory on the effects of abusive supervision

PurposeThe vast majority of research on traditional leadership focuses on effective and positive leadership behavior. However, scholars have begun to pay attention to the impact of negative leadership behavior on employees and the organization. Hence, the main purpose is to examine the effects of abusive supervision. While the literature does not examine the time future orientation of the effects of abusive supervision, the purpose of this paper is to fill up this gap and examine the moderating role of future orientation.Design/methodology/approachA total of 584 valid questionnaires were collected from respondents aged between 21 and 30 years old and analyzed using the hierarchical regression and structural equation modeling method.FindingsThe main results show that abusive supervision positively affects counterproductive work behavior and future orientation positively moderates both the relationship between abusive supervision and originality behavior and the relationship between abusive supervision and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB).Originality/valueThis study demonstrates the moderating roles of future orientation in the effects of abusive supervision, and thus deepens the understanding of the moderating effect. It departs from the prior works and presents a more detailed examination examines the distinct dimensions of personality traits. It makes three main theoretical contributions. First, it introduces uncertainty management theory as a means to interpret the effects of abusive supervision. Second, it contributes to the literature on abusive supervision. Third, it does not lead to discovery as an OCB and originality, conclusions which differ from the results suggested in past literature.

Legitimation of Absenteeism Behaviors by Prototypical Leaders in Subgroups

In this study, we are advancing a model of negative leader behaviors contagion within teams. Leader that are representative of teams set a normative direction referring to behaviors that are expect...

How destructive leadership influences compulsory organizational citizenship behavior

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the underlying influence of destructive leadership on hindrance stress and compulsory organizational citizenship behavior (CCB) by developing a moderated mediation model, which examines the mediating role of hindrance stress and the moderating role of supervisor–subordinate guanxi.Design/methodology/approachBy using 324 samples collected from multiple companies in southeast China, the model is tested through multiple linear hierarchical regressions, correlation analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and PROCESS bootstrapping program in SPSS and AMOS software.FindingsResults reveal that hindrance stress fully mediates the relationship between destructive leadership and CCB, and supervisor–subordinate guanxi moderates the strength of the indirect effect between destructive leadership and CCB (via hindrance stress), so that the mediated relationship is stronger when supervisor–subordinate guanxi is low rather than high.Originality/valueThe study contributes to display the influence path and contingency mechanism of destructive leadership as a stressor on employees’ negative behavior in the workplace. The moderated mediation model results not only develop the research on the relationship between negative leadership and employee behavior in terms of leadership effectiveness but also provide a new viewpoint to explore the relationship between leadership and employee behavior.

Did charisma “Trump” narcissism in 2016? Leader narcissism, attributed charisma, value congruence and voter choice

Grandiose narcissism has been associated with negative outcomes and research suggests its potential to predict positive and negative leadership behaviors. We examined perceived leader narcissism, attributed charisma, and voter choice in the context of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Narcissism was found to be negatively related to attributions of charisma and voter choice, and had an indirect effect on voter choice through attributed charisma. Value congruence moderated the relationship between attributed charisma and voter choice. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of the mixed results in earlier research regarding the relationship between perceived leader narcissism and attributed charisma, and highlights attributed charisma as an intervening factor in understanding leader selection.