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When Is Authoritarian Leadership Less Detrimental? The Role of Leader Capability

Author

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  • Qiufeng Huang

    (School of Political Science and Public Administration, Huaqiao University, Quanzhou 362021, China)

  • Kaili Zhang

    (School of Business, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China)

  • Yanqun Wang

    (School of Political Science and Public Administration, Huaqiao University, Quanzhou 362021, China)

  • Ali Ahmad Bodla

    (Nijmegen School of Management, Radboud University, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands)

  • Duogang Zhu

    (School of Journalism and New Media, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China)

Abstract

We developed and tested a moderated mediation model of the relationship between authoritarian leadership and employees’ task performance as well as their affective organizational commitment. Analyses of multilevel, multisource, and three-wave data from 99 supervisors and 341 subordinates showed that leader effectiveness evaluations mediated the time-lagged relationship of authoritarian leadership with employees’ task performance and affective organizational commitment. Moreover, when leader capability is high, it mitigates the negative relationship between AL and employees’ outcomes. Furthermore, the leader capability moderates the indirect relationship of authoritarian leadership with employees’ task performance and affective organizational commitment via leader effectiveness evaluation. This study contributes to leadership research and extends our understanding of how and under what circumstances AL is less detrimental to employees’ workplace outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Qiufeng Huang & Kaili Zhang & Yanqun Wang & Ali Ahmad Bodla & Duogang Zhu, 2022. "When Is Authoritarian Leadership Less Detrimental? The Role of Leader Capability," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-17, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2022:i:1:p:707-:d:1020860
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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