Edited by:
Reviewed by:
*Correspondence:
This article was submitted to Organizational Psychology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Psychology
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Based on goal setting theory, this study explores the positive effect and influencing process of authoritarian leadership on employee performance, as well as the moderating role of individual power distance in this process. Data from 211 supervisor-subordinate dyads in Chinese organizations indicates that authoritarian leadership is positively associated with employee performance, and learning goal orientation mediates this relationship. Furthermore, power distance moderates the effect of authoritarian leadership on learning goal orientation, such that the effect was stronger when individual power distance was higher. The indirect effect of authoritarian leadership on employee performance via learning goal orientation is also moderated by power distance. Theoretical and managerial implications and future directions are also discussed.
Authoritarian leadership refers to a leader’s behavior of asserting strong authority and control over subordinates and demanding unquestioned obedience from them (
However, some scholars have questioned the belief that authoritarian leadership is uniformly detrimental for employees and organizations, instead suggesting that it may exert positive effect on employees. For example, based on an empirical study conducted in Taiwan,
The mixed findings regarding the relationship between authoritarian leadership and employee outcomes suggest two possible explanations. First, the psychological processes of authoritarian leadership’s influence on employee outcomes are complex. The extant mechanisms used to explore the relationship fail to capture the full picture of the actual effect of authoritarian leadership (
To advance this line of research, we take a subordinate-centered perspective to explore the psychological process that links authoritarian leadership to employee performance, as well as the situational factor that may temper this process. From this perspective, we can gain a better understanding of how leadership shapes employee outcomes through subordinates’ self-construction. Specifically, we propose that authoritarian leadership can be positively associated with employee performance by affecting employee’s learning goal orientation. Although learning goal orientation has been considered as an individual difference in several studies (
We, thereby, extend the research on authoritarian leadership in several respects. First, we discuss the possibility that authoritarian leadership may exert a positive influence on employees in the context of Chinese culture. In some Asian countries, such as China, authoritarian leadership is considered as a prevalent and effective leadership style because of its fit with traditional values (
Authoritarian leadership stems from the cultural traditions of Confucianism and Legalism (
In our research, we propose that authoritarian leadership would enhance employee performance based on the following reasons. First, authoritarian leaders can be effective by setting specific and unambiguous goals to their subordinates. Authoritarian leaders always have the last say in their organizations and provide a singular mission upon which followers can focus on their job responsibilities, without uncertainty (
Second, authoritarian leaders typically enhance followers’ sense of identity as group members, which further motivates employees to perform at a high level (
Third, some scholars believe that authoritarian leaders usually set high performance standard expectations for their subordinates (
Prior research has generally focused on the leader-centered perspective, aiming to understand the influence of authoritarian leadership behavior on subordinate by exploring how leaders affect employees’ perception of leadership behavior, such as affective trust in leader (
In our study, we propose learning goal orientation as an important mediator of authoritarian leadership’s impact on employee behavior. Achievement goal theory suggests that an individual’s goal orientation affects how he or she interprets and responds to situations and challenges (
We believe that authoritarian leadership may strengthen subordinate’s learning goal orientation. First, authoritarian leaders are highly competitive and set very high expectations for their teams (
Goal orientation further influences how employees approach, interpret, and respond to situations and challenges (
Despite the positive effect that authoritarian leaders can exert on subordinates, there are also negative aspects of authoritarianism to which many employees may respond passively (
Employees higher in power distance have a greater psychological dependence on their leaders to offer clear goals and to establish group boundaries (
Conversely, employees with lower power distance are more likely to expect and develop personalized relationships with their leaders, as they view leaders as approachable (
We further propose that power distance will moderate the indirect relationship of authoritarian leadership on employee performance through learning goal orientation. Thus, we develop a moderated mediation hypothesis and build up our theoretical model.
Theoretical model.
The study’s sample comprises 211 supervisor-subordinate dyads from 10 different technology companies located in China. To avoid common method bias, the data were sourced from multiple independent teams and from multiple respondents within each team. Surveys were distributed to potential participants through human resource management departments. Data were principally collected by surveying managers and employees within each team. The respondents were assured of confidentiality and that nobody else in their teams would have access to their individual responses. To maximize the response rate, managers were contacted through a follow-up phone call or email 2 weeks after the initial distribution of the survey. Out of 280 distributed questionnaires (40 to supervisors and 240 to subordinates), 260 questionnaires (representing 232 supervisor-subordinate dyads) were returned, giving a response rate of 92.8% for both leaders and subordinates. 21 pairs of responses were deleted as either they did not provide data on key variables or showed obvious random responding (
Except for the items on authoritarian leadership, all the measures used in this study were adopted from English literature. In accordance with (
To measure authoritarian leadership, we used nine-item scale developed by
Learning goal orientation was assessed using nine items scale developed by
We measured power distance using a six-item measure developed by
The team managers were asked to provide a performance rating for each individual employee. We used three items from a scale developed by
Prior research has found that demographic variables (gender and age) may influence employee performance (
We conducted confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) in Mplus 7 to test the distinctiveness of the variables included in the study: authoritarian leadership, learning goal orientation, power distance, and employee performance. As indicated in
Comparison of factor structures.
Model | χ2 |
Δχ2 |
RMSEA | SRMR | CFI |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
The hypothesized four-factor model | 561.69 (306) | 0.06 | 0.08 | 0.91 | |
A three-factor model combining authoritarian leadership and learning goal orientation | 973.65 (314) | 411.96 (8) | 0.10 | 0.15 | 0.76 |
A two-factor model combining authoritarian leadership, learning goal orientation, and power distance | 1206.62 (315) | 644.93 (9) | 0.09 | 0.13 | 0.67 |
A single-factor model combining all four variables | 1332.86 (315) | 771.17 (9) | 0.12 | 0.16 | 0.62 |
Also, based on the work of
Means, standard deviations, and correlations among all variables.
Mean | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(1) Gender | 1.67 | 0.53 | |||||||
(2) Age | 2.29 | 0.54 | 0.07 | ||||||
(3) LMX | 4.13 | 0.73 | –0.01 | 0.06 | |||||
(4) Authoritarian leadership | 3.08 | 0.68 | –0.24∗∗ | 0.08 | 0.32∗∗ | ||||
(5) Learning goal orientation | 3.40 | 0.97 | –0.18∗∗ | –0.13 | –0.13 | 0.18∗∗ | |||
(6) Power distance | 2.49 | 0.76 | –0.09 | 0.08 | 0.08 | 0.45∗∗ | 0.16∗ | ||
(7) Employee performance | 4.18 | 0.73 | –0.05 | 0.15 | 0.81∗∗ | 0.24∗∗ | 0.40∗∗ | –0.16 | |
(8) Hindrance stressor | 2.68 | 0.83 | 0.01 | 0.11 | –0.11 | 0.07 | –0.08 | 0.10 | –0.03 |
We present the means, standard deviations, and correlations among all the variables in
To test the main and mediation effects, we used the path analysis model conducted in Mplus 7, which estimate both the path coefficients and the indirect effects with bootstrapping. As shown in
Model results. ∗
Hypothesis 3 proposes the moderating effect of power distance on the relationship between authoritarian leadership and learning goal orientation. We examined this hypothesis by adding an interaction term of authoritarian leadership and power distance into the model predicting learning goal orientation. The results reveal that the predicted interaction is significant (
Interaction between authoritarian leadership and power distance on learning goal orientation.
The primary goal of our research is to examine how, why, and under what condition authoritarian leadership may exert a positive effect on employee performance. In particular, we proposed and tested the mediating role of learning goal orientation on the relationship between authoritarian leadership and employee performance. We then examined the moderating effect of individual power distance on the impact of authoritarian leadership on learning goal orientation. Our findings reveal that authoritarian leadership is positively related to employee performance through learning goal orientation, and the strength of the relationship is dependent on employees’ power distance.
Authoritarian leadership is widely considered as the exemplar of detrimental leadership behaviors. Previous studies of authoritarian leadership have primarily emphasized and highlighted its negative features (
Second, by exploring the effect of authoritarian leadership on employee performance through individuals’ learning goal orientation, we were able to obtain a richer picture of the mechanisms through which authoritarian leadership affects employees. Prior research has generally examined the effect of leadership (e.g., transformational leadership, ethical leadership) through a leader-centered approach, ignoring the role of subordinates’ self-construction, despite its verified importance in explaining the function of leadership (
Third, our findings indicate that the positive relationship between authoritarian leadership and learning goal orientation is enhanced when employees hold higher levels of power distance and mitigated when they hold lower levels. Consistent with the work of
Our research also has several managerial implications. Although some studies have shown negative effects on employees who experience authoritarian leadership, managers need to be aware that authoritarian leadership may also motivate employees to enhance their performance; this is particularly the case in Chinese organizations. Indeed, some scholars have already suggested the positive effect of authoritarian leadership on firm performance when firms operate in resource–scarce environments (
Despite some notable contributions, this study has several limitations that indicate future research avenues. First, we used a Chinese sample, which might limit the generalizability of the research findings to other cultural contexts (
In addition to these limitations, we also suggest some new directions for future research. First, future studies could build on our work by further exploring how authoritarian leadership affects other employee outcomes. For example, it would be interesting to investigate whether authoritarian leadership could benefit employees through enhancing their job focus and work engagement. Second, while we test the mediating role of learning goal orientation in the process of authoritarian leadership affecting employee outcomes, future study could expand the range of potential mediators to consider other self-related constructs, such as core self-evaluation (
An ethics approval was not required as per institutional guidelines and national laws and regulations because no unethical behaviors existed in this study. We just conducted paper–pencil test and were exempt from further ethics board approval since this research did not involve human clinical trials or animal experiments. All subjects gave written informed consent in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Research respondents were ensured confidentiality and anonymity. All participation was voluntary.
HW has been provided substantial contribution to the research design, data collection, and the write-up. BG has been involved in data analysis and interpretation. All authors reviewed and approved this paper for publication.
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.