The Role of Gender and Culture in Psychopathic Leadership from a Southeast Asian Context

• Main Authors: Ilac, Emerald Jay D, Mactal, Ma Tonirose de Guzman
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2024
• Subjects: Business; Business Administration, Management, and Operations; Industrial and Organizational Psychology; Leadership; Leadership Studies; Psychology; Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/psychology-faculty-pubs/469; https://doi.org/10.1037/mgr0000157
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

The prior research has explored the impact of psychopathic personality on leadership and follower behavior. Following Dunham and Pierce’s (1989) leadership continuum model to evaluate the impact of damaging leadership, this study investigated the impact of leaders’ psychopathic personality and its resultant demonstration of toxic behaviors on followers’ job satisfaction. Moreover, it extended the limited research on gender as a moderating variable between psychopathic personality and leadership toxicity by testing a moderated mediation model. A quantitative survey of 319 followers from different organizations was conducted using an online platform. Findings revealed significant relationship between the leaders’ psychopathic personality and their demonstration of toxic behaviors. Also, leaders’ toxic behaviors were found to mediate between personality and job satisfaction. Furthermore, gender was found as a significant moderator between personality and toxic leadership behavior. However, in contrast with the studies in the Global North, leaders’ psychopathic personality and their toxic leadership behaviors were perceived as stronger among females, regardless of the industry they worked in. These results open the discussion on the impact of culture and gender on leader psychopathology and toxicity.