The effects of autocratic leadership on employee outcomes

Abstract

Autocratic leadership, which is a directive style of leadership based on the conceptualization where leaders take all responsibility for decisions and subordinate performance, was a very popular topic within the leadership field after World War II. The main aim of this research is to explore the under-studied topic of Autocratic Leadership and its effects on emotional, cognitive and behavioral employee outcomes, and understand the boundary conditions in which these relationships operate. By collecting data from 202 leaders and 202 of their immediate subordinates, the effects of autocratic leadership on employee’s emotional, cognitive and behavioral outcomes were measured. Contrary to the approach of the field in examining autocratic leadership by looking at the linear relationships, by utilizing social hierarchy theory, this study reveals the importance of investigating autocratic leadership from a curvilinear relationship standpoint. In this context, this research investigates the curvilinear relationships between autocratic leadership and employee outcomes, which provides the option to look at the outcomes for low, moderate, and high levels of autocratic leadership. The results show support for the idea that the outcomes of autocratic leadership change depending on the amount of autocratic leadership present in the situation, and support for the idea that the construct has different effects on emotional, cognitive and behavioral outcomes. The moderating effects of leader-member exchange social comparison and perceived organizational support on these relationships is also partially supported by the results.