An empirical investigation on the link between destructive leadership and moral disengagement

Detrimental effects and costs of destructive leadership represent a real threat for organizations and society (Tepper, 2007). In fact, many people may experience it at different degree during their life, mainly at work (Aasland et al., 2010). The destructive-constructive model of leadership (DCL; Einarsen et al., 2007) embraces, along with constructive leadership, four forms of destructive behaviors, namely tyrannical, derailed, supportive-disloyal and laissez-faire. The present study addressed the relation between DCL and moral disengagement, thus delving into the capability of leaders to act as role models, legitimating and transmitting to followers deleterious attitudes, ideology and behaviors (Yukl, 2006). Moral disengagement was defined as the process of convincing the self that ethical standards do not apply to oneself in a particular context, by separating moral reactions from inhumane conduct by disabling the mechanism of self-condemnation (Fiske, 2004), and it may breed from the example of relevant others. A questionnaire including measures of DCL and of moral disengagement was administered to a group of 355 Italian workers. Regression analyses revealed that constructive leadership reduced moral disengagement of followers while only supportive-disloyal leadership enhanced their disengagement. Results of this preliminary study supported the negative vs. positive association existing between constructive vs. destructive leadership and moral disengagement. Supportive-disloyal leadership seemed to emerge as a subtle path a leader can walk along in order to be endorsed by followers, even if at the expense of both the organization, the shareholders and the stakeholders. Applications to the societal and political domain are discussed.