Emily Bublitz-Berg, Carrie Anne Platt and Brent Hill
The purpose of this study is to explain why people respond to toxic leadership in different ways. The toxic triangle was applied as a lens and extended followership by…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explain why people respond to toxic leadership in different ways. The toxic triangle was applied as a lens and extended followership by investigating unsusceptible followers and susceptible followers.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employed Q methodology to illustrate the subjective viewpoints of 31 employees. Participants sorted 41 statements ranging from “most uncharacteristic” to “most characteristic” according to their beliefs using a forced distribution. We used qualitative data from the survey and follow-up interviews to document participant motivations.
Findings
Findings from this Q study demonstrated three distinct perceptions of responses to toxic leadership: Suffer in Silence (Perspective 1), Confront and Advocate (Perspective 2) and Quiet yet Concerned (Perspective 3). This study found that Perspectives 1 and 3 helped to explain differences in susceptible followership, whereas Perspective 2 helped to explain unsusceptible followership. Our research supports the need for organizations to provide safe whistleblowing channels for reporting unethical behavior by adopting clear policies for handling unethical behaviors and sharing those policies with all constituents within the organization.
Practical implications
Our research supports the need for organizations to provide safe whistleblowing channels for reporting unethical behavior by adopting clear policies for handling unethical behaviors and sharing those policies with all constituents within the organization.
Originality/value
Our study adds to the developing literature on followership by building a conceptual framework for response types that better explains the motivation and subsequent actions of susceptible and unsusceptible followers. This framework helps us identify new ways to combat toxic leadership by providing a more nuanced view of how employees perceive and respond to toxic leadership.
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Keywords
Carrie Anne Platt, Renee Bourdeaux and Nancy DiTunnariello
This study investigated how college students’ pace of life and perceptions of communication technologies shape the choices they make when engaging in mediated communication with…
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigated how college students’ pace of life and perceptions of communication technologies shape the choices they make when engaging in mediated communication with their parents.
Methodology
We conducted 21 interviews to explore how students’ understandings of various communication technologies, the rules and patterns of technology use in their families, and the circumstances surrounding their use of technologies while at college influence the number and type of media they use to communicate with their parents.
Findings
We found that perceived busyness and generational differences played a large role in limiting technologies used, with environmental factors, the purpose of communication, and complexity of message also contributing to technology choices.
Originality
This study extends media multiplexity theory by investigating media choice and relational tie strength in an intergenerational context.