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HELP WHEN LEADERS NEED SOMEBODY? POSITIVE FOLLOWER BEHAVIORAL REACTIONS TO LEADER WORK-FAMILY CONFLICT
Date Issued
2023-05
Author(s)
Research Team
Nicole Alonso (Former Post-Doc) - CCDI, Eugenia Bajet Mestre (PhD student), Eugenia Bajet Mestre (PhD student), Mihwa Seong (Post-Doc), Nicole Alonso (Former Post-Doc) - CCDI, FIM-HSG, FIM-HSG, Mihwa Seong (Post-Doc)
Abstract
Perceptions of others’ work-family conflict (WFC) have typically been studied as a top-down phenomenon grounded in gender role theory; this work generally reveals negative career consequences for followers ascribed higher WFC—particularly women. However, we know less about how those lower in organizational hierarchies (e.g., followers) notice and behave in response to leaders’ WFC, and if these reactions differ for male and female leaders. Integrating prosocial motivation theory, we propose that followers perceive leaders’ WFC and respond to it positively because they want to help these leaders. We argue that this effect is especially pronounced for male leaders, because higher WFC positively violates gendered stereotypes surrounding care and communality. Results from a multi-source field study of leaders and followers (144 matched dyads from 144 followers and 268 leaders; total N = 412) showed initial support for our model, which we then causally replicated and extended via an experimental recall study (N = 468) and a behavioral vignette experiment (N = 420). This research marks a theoretical integration between WFC and prosocial motivation, highlighting a new behavioral bonus wherein leaders’ ostensibly negative state—WFC—elicits arguably unintentional positive behavioral effects in the form of more interpersonal helping from their followers. This research fits well with the conference theme by integrating a darker side of leadership and examining how it (arguably unintentionally) stimulates positive follower behaviors, thereby exposing a critical leader-follower dynamic between leaders at the work-family interface.
Language
English
Keywords
leadership
followership
work-family
work-family conflict
helping behavior
ocb
organizational citizenship behavior
motivation
prosocial motivation
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
HSG Profile Area
SoM - Responsible Corporate Competitiveness (RoCC)
Event Title
Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Leadership Symposium
Event Location
Greece
Event Date
May 3-7, 2023
Division(s)
Eprints ID
269649