Influence of destructive leadership behaviors on the meaning of work and work productivity

This study aimed to determine the influence of destructive leadership behaviors on employees’ meaning of work and work productivity, using a longitudinal research design. Local government organizations in a municipality in Sweden were invited to participate in the study. Self-rated questionnaire dat...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Martin Grill
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-12-01
Series:Frontiers in Psychology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1295027/full
_version_ 1797392982370942976
author Martin Grill
author_facet Martin Grill
author_sort Martin Grill
collection DOAJ
description This study aimed to determine the influence of destructive leadership behaviors on employees’ meaning of work and work productivity, using a longitudinal research design. Local government organizations in a municipality in Sweden were invited to participate in the study. Self-rated questionnaire data on employees’ meaning of work and work productivity was collected at four time points over a period of 18 months, and 582 employees responded to the questionnaire on one or more occasions. A 4-item Destructive Leadership Scale (DLS) was developed and used at the first time point to assess the destructive leadership behaviors of incoherent planning, assigning unnecessary tasks, ambiguous expectations, and autocratic behavior. Latent growth models were used to analyze the influence of destructive leadership on the change in employees’ meaning of work and work productivity over the 18-month period. The results show that destructive leadership has a significant negative influence on employees’ meaning of work (β = −0.44, p = 0.02) and work productivity (β = −0.46, p = 0.04). The effect sizes were greater than those identified in previous cross-sectional studies, indicating that the effects of destructive leadership may accumulate and become more important over time. Important destructive leadership behaviors include incoherent planning, assigning unnecessary tasks, ambiguous expectations, and autocratic behavior. These behaviors have a significant negative effect on employees’ meaning of work and work productivity. Proactive assessment of destructive leadership behaviors is warranted to improve future selection and training of managers.
first_indexed 2024-03-08T23:56:31Z
format Article
id doaj.art-32faa10dba2b45bf95b58ef99e18cb51
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1664-1078
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-08T23:56:31Z
publishDate 2023-12-01
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format Article
series Frontiers in Psychology
spelling doaj.art-32faa10dba2b45bf95b58ef99e18cb512023-12-13T04:36:48ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782023-12-011410.3389/fpsyg.2023.12950271295027Influence of destructive leadership behaviors on the meaning of work and work productivityMartin GrillThis study aimed to determine the influence of destructive leadership behaviors on employees’ meaning of work and work productivity, using a longitudinal research design. Local government organizations in a municipality in Sweden were invited to participate in the study. Self-rated questionnaire data on employees’ meaning of work and work productivity was collected at four time points over a period of 18 months, and 582 employees responded to the questionnaire on one or more occasions. A 4-item Destructive Leadership Scale (DLS) was developed and used at the first time point to assess the destructive leadership behaviors of incoherent planning, assigning unnecessary tasks, ambiguous expectations, and autocratic behavior. Latent growth models were used to analyze the influence of destructive leadership on the change in employees’ meaning of work and work productivity over the 18-month period. The results show that destructive leadership has a significant negative influence on employees’ meaning of work (β = −0.44, p = 0.02) and work productivity (β = −0.46, p = 0.04). The effect sizes were greater than those identified in previous cross-sectional studies, indicating that the effects of destructive leadership may accumulate and become more important over time. Important destructive leadership behaviors include incoherent planning, assigning unnecessary tasks, ambiguous expectations, and autocratic behavior. These behaviors have a significant negative effect on employees’ meaning of work and work productivity. Proactive assessment of destructive leadership behaviors is warranted to improve future selection and training of managers.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1295027/fullincoherent planningassigning unnecessary tasksambiguous expectationsautocratic behaviorwork engagementillegitimate tasks
spellingShingle Martin Grill
Influence of destructive leadership behaviors on the meaning of work and work productivity
Frontiers in Psychology
incoherent planning
assigning unnecessary tasks
ambiguous expectations
autocratic behavior
work engagement
illegitimate tasks
title Influence of destructive leadership behaviors on the meaning of work and work productivity
title_full Influence of destructive leadership behaviors on the meaning of work and work productivity
title_fullStr Influence of destructive leadership behaviors on the meaning of work and work productivity
title_full_unstemmed Influence of destructive leadership behaviors on the meaning of work and work productivity
title_short Influence of destructive leadership behaviors on the meaning of work and work productivity
title_sort influence of destructive leadership behaviors on the meaning of work and work productivity
topic incoherent planning
assigning unnecessary tasks
ambiguous expectations
autocratic behavior
work engagement
illegitimate tasks
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1295027/full
work_keys_str_mv AT martingrill influenceofdestructiveleadershipbehaviorsonthemeaningofworkandworkproductivity