Investigating Leader Role Congruity and Counterproductive Work Behavior

Abstract

The present study sought to examine the role of fulfilled vs. unfulfilled expectations in work-related and non-work domains. Specifically, we examined how congruence and incongruence between implicit leadership theories across multiple categories of leaders (typical, ideal, and effective leaders) and characteristics recognized on one’s supervisor affect leader-member exchange (LMX), work-family conflict, and subsequent counter-productive work behavior. We tested our hypotheses using polynomial regression and response surface modeling. The results of this study showed that congruence between implicit leadership theories (ILT’s) of typical, ideal, and effective leaders and supervisor recognition, as well as incongruity between ILT’s of ideal leaders and characteristics recognized in one’s supervisor, significantly impacts perceived LMX quality with supervisors. Incongruity between ILT’s of typical and ideal leaders and supervisor recognition was also associated with higher ratings of work-family conflict (WFC). Finally, the results showed support for a significant indirect effect of congruence between ILTs of typical and ideal leaders and characteristics recognized in one’s supervisor on CWB through WFC. These results add meaningful depth to literature on congruent implicit theories in two ways: (a) we add to existing knowledge of outcomes associated with congruence on ILT’s, and, (b) we examine these associations using ILT’s across multiple categories of leaders. Implications are also discussed.

Keywords:

• Counter-productive work behavior (CWB)
• engagement
• implicit leadership theories (ILT’s)
• leader-member exchange (LMX)
• personnel
• polynomial regression
• work-family conflict (WFC)
• work-life balance

Author Notes

Benjamin Biermeier-Hanson is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Radford University. His research interests focus on leadership and organizational culture.

Patrick Coyle is an Assistant Professor of Management at Lycoming College. His interests focus on leadership and individual differences.

Notes

1 Note: Surface plots for the Ideal-Recognized comparison are similar, visually, to those presented for the Typical prototype comparison are available upon request.