Leadership Research Summary:
• Drawing on the general aggression model and theories of victimization and temperamental goodness-of-fit, we investigated trait anger and trait anxiety as antecedents of petty tyranny: employing a multilevel design with data from 84 sea captains and 177 crew members. Leader trait anger predicted subordinate-reported petty tyranny. Subordinate trait anxiety was associated with subordinate-reported petty tyranny. The association between leader trait anger and subordinate-reported petty tyranny was strongest among low trait anger subordinates supporting the theory of temperamental goodness-of-fit—or rather misfit—in dyads. Hence, leader anger-generated petty tyranny seems to constitute itself both as an average leadership style and as behavior targeting specific subordinates, in this case low trait anger subordinates. In addition, anxious subordinates report more exposure to such abusive leadership behaviors irrespective of levels of trait anger in the captain. The practical implications are above all the needs for organizational and individual management of leader trait anger.
Leadership Research Implications and Findings:
• This study offers six notable strengths. First, we employed separate sources for measurement of leader traits and leader behavior, avoiding single-source bias. Second, we took levels of analysis into account (Yammarino and Dansereau, 2008, Yammarino et al., 2005). The theoretical arguments of levels of analysis and multilevel analyses used conjunctively are not only necessary, but reveal a better and different understanding than one would gain without such scrutiny. Third, including all three domains of leadership (Graen & Uhl-Bien, 1995)—leaders, subordinates, and relationships—supplies a broader, but also nuanced, picture of the relationships between personality factors as antecedents of petty tyranny.
• The second and third strengths both come across clearly in this recap: the trait anger of leaders has, for instance, a significant influence on behavior affecting entire workgroups as well as within dyadic relationships with particular subordinates. The trait anger of subordinates is significant solely within the dyadic relationship with the trait anger of their leader. The trait anxiety of subordinates is significant solely on an individual level. Thus, the two narrow bandwidth traits influence petty tyranny differently on different levels of analysis.
• Furthermore, trait anxiety and trait anger of subordinates do influence petty tyranny in opposite directions: the higher the trait anxiety, the more of petty tyranny, whereas the lower the trait anger, the greater the effect of leader trait anger on petty tyranny in dyads. These differences bring us to the fourth strength of the present study: the use of narrow bandwidth personality measures.
• Petty tyranny is a very specific concept: a form of destructive leadership behavior that is aggressive and anti-subordinate in nature and therefore a form of aggression within unequal power relations. Very specific concepts may demand equally specific antecedents, hence the use of narrow bandwidth measures (Bergner et al., 2010). Broader personality dimensions, such as neuroticism—including both trait anxiety and trait anger—may instead turn the opposite effects of anger and anxiety into a meaningless mean and be interpreted as non-significant results.
• The nuances found with these narrow bandwidth measures can be contrasted with broader dimensional measures providing inconclusive results in a study on personality moderators of the relationship between petty tyranny and subordinates’ resistance (Tepper, Duffy, & Shaw, 2001), or both significant (Berry et al., 2007) and insignificant (Salgado, 2002) associations in meta-studies to workplace deviance and to counterproductive behaviors, respectively.
• The fifth strength is the application of a wide range of rigorous controls—typical situational stressors for both parties, and gender, age and tenure—which increase the value of the findings of personality as antecedents to petty tyranny. Finally, we investigate petty tyranny within the social relationships in which it actually occurs, as suggested by Hershcovis and Barling (2010): in real-life teams on board real-life ferries whose crews work closely together over longer periods of time. Our sample thereby also complies with the demands for more context-specific studies (McClenahan, Giles, & Mallett, 2007), hence controlling for a range of possible confounding variables.
• The research findings may have a range of practical implications for leaders, subordinates, and senior management alike. If researchers were to propose a prescription with the still limited knowledge we currently have, in order to be as concrete as possible for the parties, it would be as follows:
• Leaders:
o Know your impact on teams, and on low trait anger and high trait anxiety subordinates.
o Control your trait anger as a driver for abusive behavior towards subordinates.
o At work our emotions need to be controlled for the benefit of all (cf. Glasø, Ekerholt, Barman, & Einarsen, 2006).
o Employ suitable anger management techniques and find fair alternatives for the advantages you expect from instrumental petty tyranny.
• High trait anxiety subordinates:
o Find ways to choose your leader and to reduce or opt out of instrumental petty tyranny.
o It may also be helpful to find ways to build confidence and personal strength.
• Low trait anger subordinates:
o Realize that you are at the mercy of leader trait anger.
o Therefore, either choose the haven of having a low trait anger leader, or find ways to deter, reduce, or opt out of leader high trait anger-generated petty tyranny.
o Faking anger when there is none is highly possible (Booth & Mann, 2005).
o Aggression by subordinates may be pro-social, beneficial, productive—for instance when trying to eliminate negative factors such as poor leadership (Hershcovis & Barling, 2007, p. 269)—and even healthy for subordinates (Leineweber et al., 2011).
o Yet, when doing so you may risk provoking even low trait anger leaders into more acts of petty tyranny, as well as facing instrumentally driven petty tyranny in general.
• High trait anger subordinates:
o Realize the potentially manifold effects of your own behavior on petty tyranny, of sometimes deterring, sometimes provoking petty tyranny that may be either leader trait anger-generated or instrumentally driven. Thus, proceed with caution and know your surroundings.
o Aristotle’s advice of finding the virtuous mean between vices of excess and deficiency (trans. 2000), is perhaps particularly relevant for you.
• Senior management responsible for the organization:
o The buck stops with you, also when it comes to petty tyranny.
o You must actively manage petty tyranny and execute operational procedures and policies that protect the dignity and integrity of all.
o This must include procedures for standing up against unfair treatment.
o You may want to empower bystanders to be committed allies in fighting petty tyranny (cf. Namie and Lutgen-Sandvik, 2010, Salmivalli, 2010).
o Support your subordinate leaders, and remember that they too are your subordinates, with all the above implications.
o Also, even if trait anger may have its advantages (cf. Anderson & Bushman, 2002, pp. 44–45), be aware of the risks associated with hiring high trait anger mangers in relation to their treatment of subordinates.