The Two Faces of Charismatic Leadership and Subordinates’ Well-being: The Mediating Effect of Emotional Labor

Abstract

Abstract: Charismatic leadership is given a lot of attention as one of most effective leadership styles. However, there are two faces of charismatic leadership — socialized charismatic leadership and personalized charismatic leadership. It is important to investigate the influence of the two leadership styles for constructing the correct understanding and developing the theory of charismatic leadership. Based on the social identity theory of leadership, we explore the mechanism of how socialized/personalized charismatic leadership influences subordinates’ well-being. The results show that socialized charismatic leadership can promote subordinates’ deep acting, and personalized charismatic leadership can promote subordinates’ surface acting; deep acting mediates the relationship between socialized charismatic leadership and subordinates’ well-being, and surface acting mediates the relationship between personalized charismatic leadership and subordinates’ well-being. In addition, subordinates’ moral identity strengthens the positive relationship between socialized charismatic leadership and subordinates’ deep acting, and weakens the positive relationship between personalized charismatic leadership and subordinates’ surface acting.

Key words: socialized charismatic leadership, personalized charismatic leadership, well-being, emotional labor, moral identity

Liu Xiaoyu, Yu Caiting, Liu Jun, Yin Meng. The Two Faces of Charismatic Leadership and Subordinates’ Well-being: The Mediating Effect of Emotional Labor[J]. Management Review, 2025, 37(10): 139-149.

References

[1] 刘小禹,王晓杰,王震. 魅力型领导研究的历史、现状与未来展望[J]. 管理学报, 2023,20(9):1409-1420 Liu X. Y., Wang X. J., Wang Z. The Past, Present, and Future Prospects of Charismatic Leadership Research[J]. Chinese Journal of Management, 2023,20(9):1409-1420
[2] Maran T., Furtner M., Liegl S., et al. In the Eye of a Leader: Eye-directed Gazing Shapes Perceptions of Leaders’ Charisma[J]. The Leadership Quarterly, 2019,30(6):101337
[3] Eman G., Hernández A., González-Romá V. Charismatic Leadership, Intra-team Communication Quality, and Team Performance: The Role of Average Leadership Perceptions and Their Homogeneity[J]. European Management Journal, 2024,42(5):735-744
[4] Novitasari D., Haque M. G. H., Supriatna H., et al. Understanding the Links between Charismatic Leadership, Intrinsic Motivation and Tacit Knowledge Sharing among MSME Employees[J]. International Journal of Social and Management Studies, 2021,2(3):1-13
[5] Zhang X., Liang L., Tian G. Y., et al. Heroes or Villains? The Dark Side of Charismatic Leadership and Unethical Pro-organizational Behavior[J]. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020,17(15):1-16
[6] 何雄涛,林肇宏,徐雅君,等. 魅力型领导对员工亲社会性规则违背行为的作用机制研究[J]. 管理学报, 2021,18(5):704-711 He X. T., Lin Z. H., Xu Y. J., et al. The Mechanism of Charismatic Leadership on Employee’s Prosocial Rule Breaking[J]. Chinese Journal of Management, 2021,18(5):704-711
[7] Menges J. I., Kilduff M., Kern S., et al. The Awestruck Effect: Followers Suppress Emotion Expression in Response to Charismatic but Not Individually Considerate Leadership[J]. The Leadership Quarterly, 2015,26(4):626-640
[8] Zhu Y. H., Wu J. Does Charismatic Leadership Encourage or Suppress Follower Voice? The Moderating Role of Challenge-Hindrance Stressors[J]. Asian Business & Management, 2023,22(2):595-620
[9] Howell J. M. Two Faces of Charisma: Socialized and Personalized Leadership in Organizations[M] //Conger J. A., Kanungo R. N. Charismatic Leadership: The Elusive Factor in Organizational Effectiveness. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1988
[10] Hu J., Dutta T. What’s Charisma Got to Do with It? Three Faces of Charismatic Leadership and Corporate Social Responsibility Engagement[J]. Frontiers in Psychology, 2022,13：829584
[11] 刘军,刘小禹,刘松博. 组织中的公权与私权领导研究思路探讨[J]. 外国经济与管理, 2010,32(3):46-51 Liu J., Liu X. Y., Liu S. B. Exploring Research Ideas on the Socialized and Personalized Leadership in Organizations[J]. Foreign Economics & Management, 2010,32(3):46-51
[12] 刘小禹,周爱钦,刘军. 魅力领导的两面性——公权与私权领导对下属创造力的影响[J]. 管理世界, 2018,34(2):112-122 Liu X. Y., Zhou A. Q., Liu J. Two Faces of Charismatic Leadership[J]. Journal of Management World, 2018,34(2):112-122
[13] Tsui A. S. Responsible Research and Responsible Leadership Studies[J]. Academy of Management Discoveries, 2021,7(2):166-170
[14] Zheng X. M., Zhu W. C., Zhao H. X., et al. Employee Well-being in Organizations: Theoretical Model, Scale Development, and Cross-cultural Validation[J]. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 2015,36(5):621-644
[15] Hochschild A. R. The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling[M]. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983
[16] Grandey A. A., Melloy R. C. The State of the Heart: Emotional Labor as Emotion Regulation Reviewed and Revised[J]. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 2017,22(3):407-422
[17] 张永军,孙亚笛,刘智强. 剥削型领导对员工强制性公民行为的影响机制研究[J]. 管理学报, 2022,19(4):525-533 Zhang Y. J., Sun Y. D., Liu Z. Q. The Mechanism of Exploitative Leadership on Employees’ Compulsory Citizenship Behavior[J]. Chinese Journal of Management, 2022,19(4):525-533
[18] Aquino K., Reed A. The Self-importance of Moral Identity[J]. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2002,83(6):1423-1440
[19] Van Knippenberg D., Hogg M. A. A Social Identity Model of Leadership Effectiveness in Organizations[J]. Research in Organizational Behavior, 2003,25:243-295
[20] Mcclelland D. C. The Two Faces of Power[J]. Journal of International Affairs, 1970,24(1):29-47
[21] 李铀,于广涛,孙俊萍. 道德领导与下属的勇敢追随:领导力的社会认同理论的视角[J]. 管理评论, 2023,35(11):242-252 Li Y., Yu G. T., Sun J. P. Ethical Leadership and Courageous Followership Behavior: A Perspective of Social Identity Theory of Leadership[J]. Management Review, 2023,35(11):242-252
[22] 刘小禹,付静宇,刘军. 魅力领导的两面性对下属公民疲劳的影响机制研究[J]. 心理科学, 2023,46(5):1114-1122 Liu X. Y., Fu J. Y., Liu J. How the Two Faces of Charismatic Leadership Affect Subordinates’ Citizenship Fatigue: Exploring the Mechanisms[J]. Journal of Psychological Science, 2023,46(5):1114-1122
[23] Fielding K. S., Hogg M. A. Social Identity, Self-categorization, and Leadership: A Field Study of Small Interactive Groups[J]. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 1997,1(1):39-51
[24] Grandey A. A., Gabriel A. S. Emotional Labor at a Crossroads: Where Do We Go from Here?[J]. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 2015,2(1):323-349
[25] 邹文篪, 田青, 刘佳. “投桃报李”——互惠理论的组织行为学研究述评[J]. 心理科学进展, 2012,20(11):1879-1888 Zou W. C., Tian Q., Liu J. “Give a Plum in Return for a Peach”: A Review of Reciprocity Theory of Organizational Behavior[J]. Advances in Psychological Science, 2012,20(11):1879-1888
[26] 刘小禹,王敬,刘军. 好的表演需要好的观众——顾客察觉准确性在员工情绪劳动影响中的作用[J]. 商业经济与管理, 2021,(10):49-59 Liu X. Y., Wang J., Liu J. Good Acting Requires Good Audience—The Role of Customer Detection Accuracy in the Influence of Employee Emotional Labor[J]. Journal of Business Economics, 2021,(10):49-59
[27] Hülsheger U. R., Schewe A. F. On the Costs and Benefits of Emotional Labor: A Meta-Analysis of Three Decades of Research[J]. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 2011,16(3):361-389
[28] Luo A., Guchait P., Lee L., et al. Transformational Leadership and Service Recovery Performance: The Mediating Effect of Emotional Labor and the Influence of Culture[J]. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 2019,77:31-39
[29] 刘明伟,张鹏程,潘晓庆,等. 剥削型领导与员工关于领导的负面八卦行为:情绪认知评价视角[J]. 管理评论, 2023,35(11):230-241 Liu M. W., Zhang P. C., Pan X. Q., et al. Exploitative Leadership and Negative Gossip Behavior about Supervisor: The Perspective of Cognitive Appraisal Theory of Emotion[J]. Management Review, 2023,35(11):230-241
[30] Reynolds S. J., Ceranic T. L. The Effects of Moral Judgment and Moral Identity on Moral Behavior: An Empirical Examination of the Moral Individual[J]. Journal of Applied Psychology, 2007,92(6):1610-1624
[31] Zheng X., Qin X., Liu X., et al. Will Creative Employees always Make Trouble? Investigating the Roles of Moral Identity and Moral Disengagement[J]. Journal of Business Ethics, 2019,157(3):653-672
[32] Brown M. E., Treviño L. K. Socialized Charismatic Leadership, Values Congruence, and Deviance in Work Groups[J]. Journal of Applied Psychology, 2006,91(4):954-962
[33] Howell J. M., Avolio B. J. The Ethics of Charismatic Leadership: Submission or Liberation?[J]. Academy of Management Executive, 1992,6(2):43-54
[34] Groth M., Hennig-Thurau T., Walsh G. Customer Reactions to Emotional Labor: The Roles of Employee Acting Strategies and Customer Detection Accuracy[J]. Academy of Management Journal, 2009,52(5):958-974
[35] Aquino K., Reed A., Thau S., et al. A Grotesque and Dark Beauty: How Moral Identity and Mechanisms of Moral Disengagement Influence Cognitive and Emotional Reactions to War[J]. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 2007,43(3):385-392
[36] 曹曼,席猛,赵曙明. 高绩效工作系统对员工幸福感的影响——基于自我决定理论的跨层次模型[J]. 南开管理评论, 2019,22(2):176-185 Cao M., Xi M., Zhao S. M. High-performance Work Systems and Employee Well-being: A Cross-level Model Based on Self-determination Theory[J]. Nankai Business Review, 2019,22(2):176-185
[37] Podsakoff P. M., MacKenzie S. B., Lee J. Y., et al. Common Method Biases in Behavioral Research: A Critical Review of the Literature and Recommended Remedies[J]. Journal of Applied Psychology, 2003,88(5):879-903
[38] Van Knippenberg D., Sitkin S. B. A Critical Assessment of Charismatic—Transformational Leadership Research: Back to the Drawing Board?[J]. The Academy of Management Annals, 2013,7(1):1-60
[39] Nie D., Lämsä A. M. Chinese Immigrants’ Occupational Well-being in Finland: The Role of Paternalistic Leadership[J]. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 2018,39(3):340-352
[40] Mehmood K., Jabeen F., Iftikhar Y., et al. Elucidating the Effects of Organisational Practices on Innovative Work Behavior in UAE Public Sector Organisations: The Mediating Role of Employees’ Wellbeing[J]. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, 2022,14(3):715-733
[41] Conger J. A., Kanungo R. N. Charismatic Leadership in Organizations: Perceived Behavioral Attributes and Their Measurement[J]. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 1994,15(5):439-452
[42] Shamir B., House R. J., Arthur M. B. The Motivational Effects of Charismatic Leadership: A Self-concept Based Theory[J]. Organization Science, 1993,4(4):577-594
[43] Lee L., Madera J. M. A Systematic Literature Review of Emotional Labor Research from the Hospitality and Tourism Literature[J]. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 2019,31(7):2808-2826
[44] House R. J., Howell J. M. Personality and Charismatic Leadership[J]. The Leadership Quarterly, 1992,3(2):81-108
[45] 刘美玉,王季. 谦逊领导如何影响员工创造力?——员工归因和心理安全的双重视角[J]. 经济管理, 2020,42(3):102-116 Liu M. Y., Wang J. How does Humble Leadership Affect Employee Creativity? The Dual Perspectives of Employee Attribution and Psychological Safety[J]. Business and Management Journal, 2020,42(3):102-116
[46] Rousseau D. M., Ho V. T., Greenberg J. I-Deals: Idiosyncratic Terms in Employment Relationships[J]. Academy of Management Review, 2006,31(4):977-994
[47] Hornung S., Rousseau D. M., Glaser J. Creating Flexible Work Arrangements through Idiosyncratic Deals[J]. Journal of Applied Psychology, 2008,93(3):655-664
[48] Cheng K., Guo L., Luo J. The More You Exploit, the More Expedient I will Be: A Moral Disengagement and Chinese Traditionality Examination of Exploitative Leadership and Employee Expediency[J]. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 2023，40（1）：151-167