Image Filters: Effects of Emotion Displays on Followers’ Perceptions of Principled Leaders

ABSTRACT We analyze how followers respond to principled and unprincipled leaders as they express positive and negative emotions, based on the moral tenets of authentic leadership theory. Grounded on the theoretical principles of emotion contagion and cognitive interpretation, we propose that negative affective displays taint followers’ perceptions of authentic leaders and that positive affective displays brighten followers’ perceptions of inauthentic leaders. We tested these hypotheses in two laboratory experiments. Results indicate that while negative affective displays significantly disfavored perceptions about an authentic leader, positive affective displays did not favor attitudes about the leader. In contrast, positive affective displays not only favored attitudes toward an inauthentic leader but also positively influenced judgments regarding the leader’s ethicality. Passive negative displays led to more favorable attitudes toward an inauthentic leader than active negative displays. Our findings unveil followers’ susceptibility to distant leader’s emotion displays, highlighting the nexus among leadership, emotions, and ethics, as well as their relevance in the organizational and political arenas.

摘要
本研究基于真实型领导理论（authentic leadership theory）的道德准则，探讨了追随者在表达正负向情绪时，对有原则与无原则领导者的反应。本研究以情绪传染与认知解读的理论框架为基础，提出研究假设：负向情绪表达会损害追随者对真实型领导者的感知，而正向情绪表达则会提升追随者对非真实型领导者的评价。我们通过两项实验室实验对上述假设进行了验证。结果显示，尽管负向情绪表达会显著降低追随者对真实型领导者的评价，但正向情绪表达并未提升该类领导者的印象。与之相对，正向情绪表达不仅能提升追随者对非真实型领导者的态度评价，还能正向影响其对领导者道德性的判断。相较于主动型负向情绪表达，被动型负向情绪表达更能让追随者对非真实型领导者产生更积极的态度。本研究结果揭示了追随者对远距离领导者情绪表达的易感性，同时凸显了领导力、情绪与道德之间的内在关联，及其在组织与政治领域的现实意义。