The roles of relational identification and workgroup cultural values in linking authoritarian leadership to employee performance

Abstract

We developed and tested a moderated mediation model of the relationship between authoritarian leadership and desirable employee performance (i.e., job performance and organization-directed citizenship behaviour, OCBO). Analyses of multilevel, multisource and data from 53 supervisors and 215 subordinates showed that relational identification mediated the time-lagged relationship between authoritarian leadership and job performance and OCBO. Authoritarian leadership has a weaker negative relationship with relational identification when group traditionality is relatively high, and this moderated relationship produces a stronger indirect relationship between authoritarian leadership and job performance and OCBO. These findings extend our understanding of the relationship between authoritarian leadership and employee performance outcomes and suggest ways organizations may seek to mitigate the extent to which authoritarian leadership hampers employees’ contributions.