Research presented at the British Psychological Society has demonstrated that an oppressive leadership style can result in group members wanting to leave, potentially causing a group to collapse. Given a democratic leadership style, they are more likely to want to stay and help their group. These effects have implications for managers and politicians who are concerned about such issues as employee turnover and the ‘brain drain’.
These findings were presented by Dr Mark Van Vugt of the University of Southampton, as part of a symposium on social inclusion and exclusion, at The British Psychological Society Annual Conference in Blackpool.
In a series of experiments, participants were given a group task with a leader who adopted either a closed and autocratic style or an open and democratic style. Halfway through the task, members were told that they could leave the group if they wanted to. More of the former group wanted to leave. This result was confirmed in a further experiment in which employees of a fast-food restaurant were faced with a new team leader who adopted a closed management style. Many employees did not want to return to work the following day.
The results provided some explanation for the undermining influence of autocratic leadership style. Members left because they felt that their personal welfare and sense of independence were being threatened, and that they were mistrusted and treated with disrespect.
3 Responses
Bullying is NOT in the eye of the beholder!
My sympathies go to Christine Hurst and her experience of a bullying boss. Bullying is not in the eye of the beholder. The behaviour is increasingly widely recognised as unacceptable, there are specific definitions of bullying behaviour and psychological profiles of bullies have been identifed. For further information Tim Field has an excellent website at http://www.successunlimited.co.uk.
I too have suffered at the hands of bullying bosses (in my case Board members of an organisation where I was Chief Executive). I am now studying the behaviour as part of a research degree and promoting the concept of Dignity at Work legislation through my consultancy work. By the way, Christine, grabbing someone’s jacket lapels over the desk sounds like assault to me….
When is someone a bully?
Having worked for a bully I agree wholeheartedly with the views on bullying the difficulty I have is knowing when it’s bullying and when it’s just firm management. Is there a strict definition or is it always in “the eye of the beholder”?
(By the way, I knew he was a bully when he grabbed my jacket lapels over the desk…………)
Workplace Bullying damages self-esteem
My research in the performing arts confirms that autocratic management sytles damage people’s self-esteem, causing illness, distress and frequently resulting in good employees leaving arts organisations. Personal experiences from arts employees can be contributed via quiggam@aol.com