ISSN 0439-755X
CN 11-1911/B

Acta Psychologica Sinica ›› 2021, Vol. 53 ›› Issue (9): 1018-1031.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2021.01018

• Reports of Empirical Studies • Previous Articles     Next Articles

The double-edged sword effects of leader workaholism on team performance

SHE Zhuolin1, LI Quan2(), YANG Baiyin3, YANG Bin3   

  1. 1School of Public Administration and Policy, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China
    2Business School, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
    3School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
  • Received:2020-07-06 Published:2021-09-25 Online:2021-07-22
  • Contact: LI Quan E-mail:quan-li19@nankai.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China(71872096);National Natural Science Foundation of China(72002108);China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(2020M680798)

Abstract:

With the escalation of industry competitive pressure, workaholic leaders are prevalent in the workplace. However, the effectiveness of workaholic leaders in organizations remains controversial both in practice and in academia. Drawing on social information processing theory, this study examined the double-edged sword effects of workaholic leaders on team performance and revealed the underlying mechanism. Based on a multi-time and multisource survey of a property management service company, the results showed that, on the one hand, leader workaholism was positively related to team job involvement, resulting in higher team performance; on the other hand, leader workaholism heightened team negative affect, thus decreasing team performance. Team task significance moderated the above two mediating paths. Specifically, when team task significance was higher, the negative mediating effect of team negative affect was attenuated, and the positive mediating effect of team job involvement was enhanced. Our findings contribute to the dialectical understanding of the effectiveness of leader workaholism and provide insights for organizations to cultivate qualified managers.

Key words: leader workaholism, team performance, team job involvement, team negative affect, team task significance