Emotional contagion in organizational life

Leveraging the wealth of research insights generated over the past 25 years, we develop a model of emotional contagion in organizational life. We begin by defining emotional contagion, reviewing ways to assess this phenomenon, and discussing individual differences that influence susceptibility to emotional contagion. We then explore the key role of emotional contagion in organizational life across a wide range of domains, including (1) team processes and outcomes, (2) leadership, (3) employee work attitudes, (4) decision-making, and (5) customer attitudes. Across each of these domains, we present a body of organizational behavior research that finds evidence of the influence of emotional contagion on a variety of attitudinal, cognitive, and behavioral/performance outcomes as well as identify the key boundary conditions of the emotional contagion phenomenon. To support future scholarship in this domain, we identify several new frontiers of emotional contagion research, including the need to better understand the “tipping point” of positive versus negative emotional contagion, the phenomenon of counter-contagion, and the influence of computer mediated communication and technology within organizations and society on emotional contagion. In closing, we summarize our model of emotional contagion in organizations, which we hope can serve as a catalyst for future research on this important phenomenon and its myriad effects on organizational life.     

Interpersonal Emotion Regulation in the Workplace: A Conceptual and Operational Review and Future Research Agenda

Employees need to regulate their own emotions as well as the emotions of others to enhance the quality of interactions with their colleagues. How well this is achieved has important outcomes for both employees and the organizations in which they work. In the field of organizational science, however, differing approaches have emerged regarding the conceptualization and operationalization of emotion regulation (ER) particularly in terms of interpersonal interactions. The present review examines contemporary theoretical perspectives of ER and its measurement with a view to resolving the confusion that currently exists around interpersonal ER in a workplace context. To understand how this field of research has developed so diversely, the authors begin by demonstrating the influence of three major individual‐level ER models on interpersonal‐level approaches: (1) the ER process model; (2) emotional labor; and (3) emotional intelligence. Moreover, to make sense of the range of interpersonal‐level research underpinned by these theories, the authors present a 2×2 categorization, developed by Zaki and Williams (2013), which shows how workplace researchers have variously approached interpersonal ER as an intrinsic vs. extrinsic process, with activation of either response‐dependent or response‐independent categories. This categorization broadly shows interpersonal ER theory used in work contexts tends to fall into four groupings as: (1) a purely extrinsic process; (2) a differentiation of extrinsic interpersonal from intrinsic individual ER; (3) co‐occurring intrinsic and extrinsic interpersonal ER; or (4) interpersonal coregulation. This paper also discusses the measurement of interpersonal ER and concludes by highlighting emerging research directions.     

Pushing up to a point: Assertiveness and effectiveness in leadership and interpersonal dynamics

Past work on interpersonal assertiveness and organizational effectiveness paints a mixed picture: some research suggests a positive link, other work highlights negative effects. This article reviews recent research and an account that stems from a different perspective, looking at assertiveness as a factor in leadership shortcomings and failure. This approach suggests that interpersonal assertiveness is a major factor and has a curvilinear, inverted-U-shaped relationship with leadership effectiveness. I review evidence for this effect as well as social and instrumental outcome mediators. I consider moderators and boundaries, sources of individual differences in assertive behavior, prospects for changing assertiveness, and factors in the perception of assertive behavior. Beyond the specific results I review, I argue that this program of work offers value by highlighting the lens of conflict as a generative perspective on leadership. Exploring how, and how hard, leaders fight pulls in insights from a variety of literatures and prompts new research that can help expand the scholarly portrait of leadership.     

What goes around comes around: How meso-level negative emotional contagion can ultimately determine organizational attitudes toward leaders

We present a follower-centric model of leadership that integrates multiple levels of analysis, and includes emotional contagion as a key meso-level process. In our model, leadership at the individual level is manifested in terms of the leader's favoritism toward members and affective displays. Drawing upon affective events theory, we argue that member perceptions of a leader's behaviors and member attributions of insincerity result in negative emotions. Through a process of emotional contagion, the negative emotions then spread to other individuals in the group. These are in turn reflected in the group's affective climate and trust climate, and also in the quality of leader-member and team-member relationships. In the end, this results in organizational-level disapproval of the leader and cynicism towards the leader. Included as moderators in the model are task interdependence, the temporal context, reward systems, emotional labor requirements, organizational culture, and power distance. We conclude with a discussion of boundary conditions, and implications of our model for research, theory, and practice.     

Effects of leader intelligence,personality and emotional intelligence on transformational leadership and managerial performance

This study investigates the effects of intelligence, personality traits and emotional intelligence on transformational leadership and the effective performance of leaders in the organizational context. Data were collected from 134 midlevel managers from a large Brazilian company that operates in the energy sector. Our findings suggest that leadership effectiveness, as measured by the achievement of organizational outcomes, is a direct function of a leader's transformational behaviors, and is an indirect function of individual differences (experience, intelligence and conscientiousness) that work through transformational behaviors. A negative effect of neuroticism on leadership effectiveness was also observed. In addition, while emotional intelligence seemed to be statistically related to transformational leadership if considered in isolation, when ability and personality were controlled for, the effect became non-significant. We discuss implications for theory, research and practice.     

Leader distance: a review and a proposed theory

The concept of leader distance has been subsumed in a number of leadership theories; however, with few exceptions, leadership scholars have not expressly defined nor discussed leader distance, how distance is implicated in the legitimization of a leader, and how distance affects leader outcomes. We review available literature and demonstrate that integral to untangling the dynamics of the leadership influencing process is an understanding of leader–follower distance. We present distance in terms of three independent dimensions: leader–follower physical distance, perceived social distance, and perceived task interaction frequency. We discuss possible antecedents of leader–follower distance, including organizational and task characteristics, national culture, and leader/follower implicit motives. Finally, we use configural theory to present eight typologies (i.e., coexistence of a cluster or constellation of independent factors serving as a unit of analysis) of leader distance and propose an integrated cross-level model of leader distance, linking the distance typologies to leader outcomes at the individual and group levels of analysis.     

Positive Chair-CEO work relationships: Micro-relational foundations of organizational capabilities

With the increasing separation of the of the roles of the CEO and Chairperson, the interplay between them has been attracting considerable interest in both communities of scholarlship and practice. We examine the ways in which the work relationships between these two supreme executive functions may help in developing organizational processes and outcomes. In so doing, we shift the discussion from a corporate governance lens to examining how micro-level mechanisms, which are rooted in individual actions and interactions involving behavioral, cognitive and emotional mechanisms, may help cultivate higher-level processes and outcomes. Using a qualitative methodology in which pairs of Chairpersons and CEOs were interviewed, we developed a conceptual model which specifies how the nature of Chairperson-CEO work relationships may be conducive to cultivating organizational capabilities of knowledge creation and cultivate collective resilience, through the shaping of a supportive organizational communication climate. In so doing, we extended a micro-foundation framework by advancing a micro-relational lens to the corporate governance research and theory and more broadly to the literature on strategic leadership.     

Leadership and organizational learning: A multiple levels perspective

We review theoretical and empirical work relevant to the nexus of leadership with organizational learning. We build on the classic distinction between exploration and exploitation and the 4I framework of organizational learning [Crossan, M. M., Lane, H. W., & White, R. E. (1999). An organizational learning framework: From intuition to institution. Academy of Management Review, 24, 522–537.] to present previous research and offer research directions linking leadership constructs and processes of organizational learning at different levels of analysis. For each of these links, we discuss the mediating effect of organizational context and suggest future research directions. This review is integrated using a model and propositions that depict the role of leaders with regard to new and existing learning.     

Emotionality and leadership: Taking stock of the past decade of research

As scholars continue in their quest to find factors that are related to leadership style, leadership behavior, and leadership effectiveness, we observe a revival in interest with regards to emotionality. As recent research suggests the rising importance of emotional reasoning over intelligence in leadership, the complex phenomena surrounding emotions in the workplace spur studies with contradictory, albeit important, results. The purpose of this review is to unify and integrate research conducted in the past decade that links emotionality with leadership style, behavior, and effectiveness. In conducting this review, we observed four running themes: emotional competencies of leaders (e.g. emotional expressiveness and emotional intelligence), stress in leadership, contagion of positive and negative affect, and the effects of leaders' emotions on outcomes like burnout and performance. On top of taking stock of studies that theoretically and empirically test these relationships, we also summarize literature on potential mechanisms that link emotionality with leadership and highlight directions for future research.     

Implicit Leadership and Followership Theories “in the wild”: Taking stock of information-processing approaches to leadership and followership in organizational settings

For over 30 years information-processing approaches to leadership and more specifically Implicit Leadership Theories (ILTs) research has contributed a significant body of knowledge on leadership processes in applied settings. A new line of research on Implicit Followership Theories (IFTs) has re-ignited interest in information-processing and socio-cognitive approaches to leadership and followership. In this review, we focus on organizational research on ILTs and IFTs and highlight their practical utility for the exercise of leadership and followership in applied settings. We clarify common misperceptions regarding the implicit nature of ILTs and IFTs, review both direct and indirect measures, synthesize current and ongoing research on ILTs and IFTs in organizational settings, address issues related to different levels of analysis in the context of leadership and follower schemas and, finally, propose future avenues for organizational research.     

Implicit affect in organizations

Our goal is to integrate the construct of implicit affect—affective processes activated or processed outside of conscious awareness that influence ongoing thought, behavior, and conscious emotional experience—into the field of organizational behavior. We begin by offering a definition and review of implicit processes, including implicit cognition, motivation and affect. We then draw upon recent empirical research in psychology and neuroscience to make the case for a three category framework of implicit affect: (1) implicit sources of affect (2) implicit experiencing of affect and (3) implicit regulation of affect. To demonstrate the use of this framework in organizational scholarship, we present illustrative examples from organizational behavior research that represent each category. Given the limited amount of research in the organizational domain, we focus on demonstrating how an implicit affect perspective might alter or extend theoretical perspectives about a variety of organizational phenomena. We then discuss methodological options and challenges for studying implicit affect within the organizational domain. In sum, we provide a theoretical and methodological roadmap as well as a call for action for understanding the role of implicit affective processes in organizational behavior.     

Ethical leadership and follower voice and performance: The role of follower identifications and entity morality beliefs

Previous studies have established the relationship between ethical leadership and a variety of positive follower outcomes. Follower organizational identification has been found to mediate the relationship between ethical leadership and follower job performance. In this research, we incorporate a second distinct and theoretically important type of social identification process, relational identification with the leader, along with organizational identification, and examine their mediating effects on follower performance and voice outcomes. Further, we bring the implicit theory of morality to the behavioral ethics literature and examine follower morality beliefs as a moderator. Using a Romanian sample of 302 followers under the supervision of 27 leaders, we found that ethical leadership has an indirect effect on follower job performance and voice (through the mediating mechanisms of both organizational and relational identifications) and that these relationships are stronger for followers who held the implicit theory that a person's moral character is fixed.     

Leader diffuse status and leadership outcomes: Towards an integrative framework

This review seeks to enrich our understanding of how a leader's status influences leadership outcomes such as motivation to lead, leader emergence and perceived leader effectiveness. The focus is on the leader's diffuse status, that is, status derived from demographic (e.g., gender and race) and physical (e.g., height and body shape) characteristics. Drawing insights from empirical findings and their theoretical underpinnings, we (1) highlight the need to explicitly model the leader's diffuse status as a mediator in the relationship between leader demographic and physical characteristics and leadership outcomes, (2) differentiate the effects of the leader's diffuse status as perceived by others (interpersonal level) and the leader's diffuse status as perceived by the leader (intrapersonal level) and (3) synthesize a wide range of contextual factors that influence the degree to which the leader's demographic and physical characteristics affect leadership outcomes through the leader's diffuse status. Moreover, we explain how other status types, such as status derived from the leader's position in the organizational hierarchy and status related to task-relevant leader characteristics, can moderate the effects of the leader's diffuse status. Finally, we discuss the utility of our proposed integrative framework for researchers and practitioners and outline promising future research opportunities.     

Romancing leadership: Past, present, and future

This paper presents a review of the romance of leadership and the social construction of leadership theory 25 years after it was originally introduced. We trace the development of this theoretical approach from the original formulation of the romance of leadership (RoL) theory as attributional bias through its emergence as a radical, unconventional approach that views leadership as a sensemaking activity that is primarily ‘in the eye of the beholder.’ We subsequently review research published in management and organizational psychology journals, book chapters and special issues of journals from 1985 to 2010. Three overall themes emerged from this review: 1) biases in (mis)attributions of leadership, including attributions for organizational success and failure; 2) follower-centered approaches, including the role of follower characteristics, perceptions, and motivations in interpreting leadership ratings; and 3) the social construction of leadership, including interfollower and social contagion processes, the role of crisis and uncertainty, and constructions and deconstructions of leadership and CEO celebrity in the media. Within each of these themes, we examine developments and summarize key findings. Our review concludes with recommendations for future theoretical and empirical work in this area.     

Shared Leadership in Commercial Organizations: A Systematic Review of Definitions,Theoretical Frameworks and Organizational Outcomes

The importance of context has been well established in studies of leadership (Bryman, A. and Stephens, M. (1996). The importance of context: qualitative research and the study of leadership. Leadership Quarterly, 7, pp. 353–371; Pettigrew, A. and Whipp, R. (1991). Managing Change for Competitive Success. Oxford: Blackwell). However, recent reviews of shared leadership have tended to merge findings across commercial and non‐commercial settings, disregarding contextual differences in these distinctive domains. Acknowledging that the challenges of leadership may vary in different organizational contexts, this paper argues that a focused review of shared leadership in commercial organizations (COs) is needed. The authors thus systematically review findings from over twenty years of empirical research on the practice of shared leadership in commercial organizations, critically reviewing definitions, theoretical dispositions and measurement approaches adopted in the field, before evaluating the impact of shared leadership on performance in this context. Findings from commercial and non‐ commercial organizations are then compared, highlighting significant differences in the conceptualization of shared leadership in these distinct settings. Contributing to theory in this field, a framework is developed, mapping the landscape of current research in commercial contexts, revealing critical gaps in our present understanding of shared leadership processes. Consequently, a model summarizing a proposed research agenda for future studies is provided, highlighting the need for such research to focus on the interactions of individuals as they share in the leadership of their team.     

Thinking outside the box by looking inside the box: Extending the cognitive revolution in leadership research

Follower and leader cognitions play critical roles in many organizational phenomena. In this review, we report and reflect on a decade of cognitive leadership research. Following a brief introduction, the review is divided into two sections—one devoted to individual and dyadic cognition, and the other to collective cognition. We identified three central themes for each section. For individual and dyadic cognition, we identified metacognitive processes and leadership, implicit leadership theories (ILTs), and network based models of ILTs as central themes. For collective cognition, we identified charisma, organizational performance and sensemaking, and transformation and change as central themes. Our goal in this review was to uncover important underlying assumptions of selected studies to illuminate more clearly the path of cognitive leadership research over the past 10 years and its potential paths over the next ten years.     

Leadership and followership identity processes: A multilevel review

A growing body of leadership literature focuses on leader and follower identity dynamics, levels, processes of development and outcomes. Despite the importance of the phenomena, there has been surprisingly little effort to systematically review the widely dispersed literature on leader and follower identity. In this review we map existing studies on a multilevel framework that integrates levels-of-the self (individual, relational and collective) with the levels-of-analysis (intrapersonal, interpersonal and group) on which leader or follower identity work takes place. We also synthesize work from multiple research paradigms, such as social psychology experimental studies, narrative accounts of leaders' identity work and field studies on antecedents, outcomes, mediating mechanisms and boundary conditions. Finally, we outline implications for leadership development and call attention to key themes we see ripe for future research.     

The gender composition of corporate boards: A review and research agenda

In recent years, the composition of boards and, particularly, the inclusion of women on boards has attracted significant scholarly interest and public debate. In this article, I comprehensively review the academic literature on board gender composition. Using the systematic review method, I ask whether women directors really are different from men on boards, what factors shape board gender composition, how board gender composition affects organizational outcomes, and finally, why board gender quotas and other forms of regulation are introduced and what outcomes can be expected. Based on my findings, I develop a conceptual framework that clarifies the causal processes underlying both women's access to boards and the effects of women's presence on boards. Finally, I offer a research agenda designed to enrich our understanding of board gender composition.     

Revisiting followership through a social identity perspective: The role of collective follower emotion and action

We review the concept of followership, with a specific focus on how followers actively influence leadership outcomes. We examine in particular research from four key areas: social identity perspectives on leadership, intergroup emotion theory, collective action, and reciprocal affect within leader–follower interactions. Our central proposition is that followers engage in actions, driven by both cognitive and affective-based processes, which affect leadership outcomes. Moreover, because leaders are part of the groups they lead and therefore embedded within the social context of a group, we propose that any action that affirms or threatens the salient group will trigger both cognitive and emotional responses from followers towards leaders. These include the extent to which a leader engages in actions that are perceived as (1) self-sacrificial, (2) procedurally fair, and (3) expressing emotions congruent with that of their group. We also propose that the extent to which followers translate their perceptions and emotions towards collective action towards their leaders will be moderated by individual-level group identification and group-level shared identity. To conclude, we highlight theoretical implications in light of these propositions and suggest areas for further research on followership.     

The many faces of emotional leadership

This article focuses heavily on overviewing and analyzing the seven articles in this special issue on emotions and leadership. The articles are discussed in terms of four key leadership issues. The first issue concerns the traits necessary for leadership. Empathy is shown to be an important variable that is central to both emotional intelligence and leadership emergence. The second issue concerns the relationship of emotions to the leadership process. It is argued that a key leadership function is to manage the emotions of group members, especially with regard to feelings related to frustration and optimism. The third issue involves our perceptions about leaders. Leaders' emotional displays are demonstrated to have a larger impact on perceptions of leaders than the content of the leaders' messages, at least in some circumstances. The fourth area involves the relationship between leadership and performance. Leaders' influences upon emotional process variables are found to have a large impact on performance. The article develops several propositions that summarize the content of this special issue and, in addition, develops new propositions that suggest future areas of research. The article concludes by touching on the review process and acknowledges the reviewers for this special issue.