Institut für Rechtswissenschaften

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The effect of leader and follower personality on work processes : analysing the influence of humility and narcissism
(2018) Helfrich, Hannah; Steidle, Anna
In the past few years, the interest in the constructs of humility and narcissism has been increasing because of unhumble manager behaviour and the appearance of Donald Trump. Consequently, researchers have been investigating the influence of leader’s and followers’ humility and narcissism in the work context. Nevertheless, previous research used self-reports of humility and did not consider facets of narcissism, thus presenting drawbacks of earlier studies. Keeping this in mind, the dissertation focuses on these two personality traits and examines their effect on the leader-follower interaction and follower performance. The leader-follower interaction is assessed by the leadership behaviour perceived by the followers and relationship conflict between the leader and the follower. With regard to follower performance, the focus is on followers’ extra-role behaviour including follower voice behaviour and Organizational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB). In Chapter 2, the influence of leader’s implicit humility on leadership behaviour is investigated. The humility measurement paradox describes that humble people do not indicate their humbleness when asked directly and vice versa. Therefore, an Implicit Association Test (IAT) of humility is developed to assess a leader’s true humility. The results from a multi-source multi-wave field study with 250 leader-follower dyads show that implicit leader humility predicts humble leadership behaviour, abusive supervision and followers’ trust in leader, whereas explicit (i.e., self-reported) humility does not. These findings show that measurement aspects are of critical importance when assessing personality characteristics such as humility that might be prone to socially desirable responding. Therefore, the use of an IAT of humility might present a solution to the humility measurement paradox by avoiding problems associated with the use of explicit measures of humility. The results also suggest that genuine humility is a valuable personality trait of a leader. Personality traits such as extraversion and dominance have been associated with an effective leader in the past. These findings, however, point to the leader’s humility as a valuable trait of a leader. Chapter 3 focuses on follower narcissism and its influence on follower empowerment and follower voice behaviour, which describes the expression of constructive challenge in order to improve rather than to criticise. Based on the Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Concept, two facets of narcissism are assessed. Narcissistic rivalry represents the dark side of narcissism. Contrary to that, narcissistic admiration describes the bright side of narcissism. In a multi-source multi-wave field study with 268 leader-follower dyads, follower narcissistic rivalry negatively influences follower empowerment and in turn voice, whereas narcissistic admiration has a positive effect. Moreover, two moderators, leaders’ implicit followership theories and followers’ promotion focus are examined. When leaders have a positive view towards their followers and think that their followers are in general productive and loyal, the negative effect of follower narcissistic rivalry on empowerment is attenuated. Similarly, this effect is also damped when the follower has a high promotion focus. The analysis of follower narcissism reveals that a sophisticated point of view is necessary when investigating the influence of follower narcissism on work outcomes. The results show that narcissism should not be considered globally. Instead, the differentiation of facets seems reasonable to identify both negative and positive effects of narcissism that are present. Chapter 4 deals with the question what might happen if both leaders and followers are high on narcissism. Again, different facets of narcissism are considered. The interaction of leader and follower narcissism is considered in the prediction of relationship conflict and OCB, which is a behaviour beneficial for an organization and not explicitly described in the formal job description. In a multi-source field study with 104 leader-follower dyads, follower narcissistic rivalry positively predicts relationship conflict and in turn negatively affects OCB, whereas follower narcissistic admiration did not lead to conflict and OCB. The Narcissistic Leaders and Dominance Complementarity Model (Grijalva & Harms, 2014) argues that submissive followers are on good terms with narcissistic (dominant) leaders. Based on this complementarity, it was suggested that narcissistic followers should not get along with their narcissistic leaders when both of them are high on narcissistic rivalry. The results showed that if both leader and follower are high on narcissistic rivalry, relationship conflict is strengthened. Other combinations of leaders’ and followers’ narcissistic facets do not enhance relationship conflict.
Turning the spotlight on the role of light and colors in offices: How are performance, social interactions, and social perception affected?
(2016) Kombeiz, Olga; Steidle, Anna
Previous research has shown that light influences psychological functioning and subsequent performance, perception, and behavior in the work context. However, an overarching model of the impact of light on psychological processes and work-related outcomes is still lacking. The current doctoral thesis introduces an overall framework that explains the effects of light in the work context. Thus, the present research attempts to clarify the effects of artificial lighting on individual performance (i.e., creativity), social interaction (i.e., collaboration in negotiations), and social perception (i.e., person perception), and to uncover the mediating psychological processes and possible moderators. Building on different theories explaining the effects of the physical environment on psychological processes and work-related outcomes, as well as based on previous research, the thesis brings new insight into this topic. The first research project focused on clarifying the effects of light on conflict resolution. Building on research of light-induced cooperativeness, it was expected that self-oriented individuals would be influenced by the light in social situations. The results of two laboratory experiments confirmed that dim warm light promoted situative interdependent self-construal in self-oriented individuals, and, in turn, enhanced the preference for collaborative conflict resolution. These results contribute to the understanding of light-induced changes in social behavior. Limitations as well as practical implications for lighting design in social spaces are discussed. The second research project addressed the question of how light influences one’s judgment of others. Based on the notion of environmentally induced positive affect, the present study proposed that pleasant light induces satisfaction with light, which in turn leads to positive judgments of other persons. The results confirmed that satisfaction with light was higher in three pleasant lighting conditions than in an unpleasant one, which in turn positively influenced the judgments of competence and warmth. Moreover, the explorative analyses showed that the positive effect of pleasant light on satisfaction with light only emerged for male participants. Theoretical contributions to lighting psychology and to the previous inconsistent findings of the role of sex in the affective consequences of light, and practical implications concerning the design of settings involving the evaluation of other individuals are discussed. The third research project aimed at clarifying the motivational consequences of artificial light and its effects on creative performance. Previous research indicated that individuals automatically evaluate the room’s atmosphere. These automatic appraisals evoke concomitant appetitive (e.g., promotion focus) or aversive (e.g., prevention focus) motivation and, in turn, may impact work performance. Based on this idea, we expected that red and blue (vs. white) accent lighting, which creates a pleasant and friendly room atmosphere, would elicit the strategic approach motivation and, in turn, promote creativity. The results of an experimental study confirmed our assumptions. Implications for future research on color and light, and practical implications are discussed. Overall, these results provide insight into the effects of light on cognitive, affective, and motivational processes, and consequently, on work-related outcomes. The three research projects contribute to a deeper understanding of which psychological processes are activated in which situation, and what role is played by the individual differences. In addition to the theoretical contributions, the present findings show that optimal ambient conditions represent support for a set of competencies on the individual and organizational levels, such as promoting collaborative conflict styles or creativity.
With all my senses : restorative environments through holistic sensory impressions
(2017) Sona, Brid; Steidle, Anna
Growing awareness of psychological health problems is resulting in various research areas exploring new approaches to fostering personal resources. Restorative Environments Theory (RET) has shown that mundane natural environments support personal resources. Although other restorative environments may exist besides mundane natural environments, their systematic examination is still lacking. In the real world, users experience environments through all their senses. However, most of the recovery research focuses on investigation of single sensory impressions. Thus, concrete insights into how various ambient qualities of an environment may affect users’ perception are still needed. The main aim of this doctoral thesis is to enhance the existing theoretical framework of restorative environments and to give an overview of research while pointing out where more research is needed. Further, the thesis includes identification of restorative environments and their specific ambient qualities. Based on the explored environments, the present research will point out psychological pathways to obtain recommendations for the design of restorative environments. The first research project was an explorative study to identify restorative places and their ambient qualities. In accordance with restoration research, participants described natural outdoor environments which they sought for recovery. In addition, they described indoor environments. Depending on the type of depletion and the environmental setting, specific environments and ambient qualities were evaluated as more important for the restorative potential of the place than others. This explorative research supports theory building and enables creation of restorative environments through holistic sensory impressions. Finally, strengths, limitations and practical implications for designing and improving restorative environments are discussed. The second research project takes up the findings of the first project by simulating sensory-enriched break environments. Based on the impact of holistic sensory impressions, this project is one of the first to reveal the impact of the recovery process of simulated environments on personal resources through congruent sensory impressions. Analyses confirmed that sensory-enriched environments were perceived as more pleasant and more restorative than less enriched environments, which in turn facilitated the recovery of personal resources. The results point out the relevance of holistic sensory impressions to fostering recovery. Implications and limitations of sensory enrichment in break environments are discussed. To broaden generalizability, the third research project comprises three field experiments investigating recovery during break interventions which offered virtual restorative environments with differing degrees of immersion and different types of environments. Building on previous research (Grimshaw, 2014), the third project posited that a higher degree of immersion in the simulated environment increases perceived realism, which becomes apparent in higher positive perceptions and recovery outcomes. Moreover, environments with different degrees of stimulation were anticipated to evoke distinct successful recovery. Previous research had mainly focused on calming environments for recovery. Additionally, this project also tested whether stimulating environments promote recovery outcomes. Results mainly confirmed the proposed hypotheses. The relevance of immersion and the impact of different types of natural environments on recovery are discussed. Overall, the current research emphasizes the impact of holistic sensory impressions in enhancing positive perceptions of the environment and, consequently, various recovery outcomes. The conducted studies uncover the psychological pathway from the processes of sensory perception to environmental recovery perception, followed by recovery outcomes. Beside these theoretical insights, the current research delivers concrete recommendations for designing restorative (virtual) environments in the workplace.

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