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，分析追随者在有原则领导者与无原则领导者表达正负向情绪时的反应。本研究依托情绪传染（emotion contagion）与认知解读的理论框架，提出如下假设：负面情感表达会损害追随者对真实型领导者的感知评价，而正面情感表达则会提升追随者对非真实型领导者的感知评价。我们通过两项实验室实验对上述假设进行了实证检验。结果表明，尽管负面情感表达会显著贬损追随者对真实型领导者的评价，但正面情感表达并未对该类领导者的态度产生积极影响。与之相对，正面情感表达不仅能提升追随者对非真实型领导者的态度，还能正向影响其对该领导者伦理特质的评判。相较于主动型负面情感表达，被动型负面情感表达更能让追随者对非真实型领导者产生更为积极的态度。本研究结果揭示了追随者对远距离领导者情感表达的易受影响性，阐明了领导力、情绪与伦理之间的内在关联，并凸显了三者在组织与政治场域中的实践价值。