Intolerable Cruelty: A Multilevel Examination of the Impact of Toxic Leadership on U.S. Military Units and Service Members

We examined the effects of toxic leadership on unit and employee outcomes. Based on Bandura's social learning theory (1977), we predicted that toxic leadership would have a direct impact on unit civility and that unit civility would mediate the relationship between toxic leadership and job sati...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Military psychology 2013-11, Vol.25 (6), p.588-601
Main Authors: Gallus, Jessica A, Walsh, Benjamin M, van Driel, Marinus, Gouge, Melissa C, Antolic, Emily
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
civility
climate
command climate
Commitments
Expectations
incivility
Job satisfaction
Leadership
Military personnel
toxic leadership
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Summary:We examined the effects of toxic leadership on unit and employee outcomes. Based on Bandura's social learning theory (1977), we predicted that toxic leadership would have a direct impact on unit civility and that unit civility would mediate the relationship between toxic leadership and job satisfaction and organizational commitment. We also predicted that within-unit variability in perceptions of toxic leadership, or toxic leadership congruence, would moderate these effects such that the relationship between toxic leadership and unit and employee outcomes would be stronger when unit members had similar perceptions of their leader's engagement in toxic behavior. Results indicate that toxic leadership behavior is negatively related to unit civility and that unit civility mediates the relationship between toxic leadership and job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Contrary to expectations, toxic leadership congruence did not moderate any of the effects of toxic leadership behavior. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
ISSN:0899-5605
1532-7876
DOI:10.1037/mil0000022