Stress, Well-Being, and the Dark Side of Leadership

Abstract

The role of dark side personality characteristics in the workplace has received increasing attention in the organizational sciences and from leadership researchers in particular. We provide a review of this area, mapping out the key frameworks for assessing the dark side. We pay particular attention to the roles that the dark side plays in leadership processes and career dynamics, with special attention given to destructive leadership. Further, we examine the role that stress plays in the emergence of leaders and how the dark side plays into that process. We additionally provide discussion of the possible roles that leaders can play in producing stress experiences for their followers. We finally illustrate a dynamic model of the interplay of dark leadership, social relationships, and stress in managerial derailment. Throughout, we emphasize a functionalist account of these personality characteristics, placing particular focus on the motives and emotional capabilities of the individuals under discussion.

Citation

Spain, S.M., Harms, P.D. and Wood, D. (2016), "Stress, Well-Being, and the Dark Side of Leadership", The Role of Leadership in Occupational Stress (Research in Occupational Stress and Well Being, Vol. 14), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 33-59. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-355520160000014002