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The role of transformational leadership in workplace bullying

The role of transformational leadership in workplace bullying The purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating role of transformational leadership on the relationship between job characteristics of both leaders and followers and workplace bullying within the workgroup. The central hypotheses were that, in a process of resource erosion, leaders’ task demands would be positively associated with workplace bullying in the workgroup, but that transformational leadership would moderate this effect, and the effect of followers’ autonomy on bullying.Design/methodology/approachAnonymous surveys were completed by 540 volunteer fire-fighters’ from 68 fire brigades and, separately, by 68 brigade captains.FindingsThe multi-level analyses show that leaders’ task demands positively predicted both bullying outcomes, after controlling for followers’ emotional demands and autonomy. Of most interest, transformational leadership moderated the influence of leaders’ task demands and followers’ autonomy on workplace bullying assessed by two approaches: self-labeling and behavioral experience. Further, a significant three-way interaction demonstrated that transformational leadership is actually associated with higher bullying as followers’ emotional demands increase under conditions wherein followers’ autonomy is constrained, but not when followers’ autonomy is high.Practical implicationsThis study offers important practical implications in terms of leadership development in bullying prevention and reduction. For transformational leadership to be effective in reducing bullying at work, the situation must be matched to support this leadership style, or bullying could actually increase.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the research on workplace bullying by advancing the understanding of organizational factors that can influence bullying at work. The study also provides the first quantitative evidence of a relationship between the demands faced by leaders and the bullying experienced by members of the workgroup. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance Emerald Publishing

The role of transformational leadership in workplace bullying

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Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© Emerald Publishing Limited
ISSN
2051-6614
DOI
10.1108/joepp-01-2017-0008
Publisher site
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Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating role of transformational leadership on the relationship between job characteristics of both leaders and followers and workplace bullying within the workgroup. The central hypotheses were that, in a process of resource erosion, leaders’ task demands would be positively associated with workplace bullying in the workgroup, but that transformational leadership would moderate this effect, and the effect of followers’ autonomy on bullying.Design/methodology/approachAnonymous surveys were completed by 540 volunteer fire-fighters’ from 68 fire brigades and, separately, by 68 brigade captains.FindingsThe multi-level analyses show that leaders’ task demands positively predicted both bullying outcomes, after controlling for followers’ emotional demands and autonomy. Of most interest, transformational leadership moderated the influence of leaders’ task demands and followers’ autonomy on workplace bullying assessed by two approaches: self-labeling and behavioral experience. Further, a significant three-way interaction demonstrated that transformational leadership is actually associated with higher bullying as followers’ emotional demands increase under conditions wherein followers’ autonomy is constrained, but not when followers’ autonomy is high.Practical implicationsThis study offers important practical implications in terms of leadership development in bullying prevention and reduction. For transformational leadership to be effective in reducing bullying at work, the situation must be matched to support this leadership style, or bullying could actually increase.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the research on workplace bullying by advancing the understanding of organizational factors that can influence bullying at work. The study also provides the first quantitative evidence of a relationship between the demands faced by leaders and the bullying experienced by members of the workgroup.

Journal

Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance – Emerald Publishing

Published: Sep 15, 2017

Keywords: Job demands; Transformational leadership; Autonomy; Workplace bullying; Emotional demands; Task demands

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