Paternalistic Leadership and Follower Work Outcomes: A Meta-analysis Utrecht University

Abstract

This research describes the results of a meta-analysis of the relationship between paternalistic leadership and the follower work outcomes task performance, organisational citizenship behaviour and creativity. The results, based on 46 independent samples (total N = 16484), show that paternalistic leadership as one construct, benevolent leadership and moral leadership are positively related and authoritarian leadership is negatively related to the follower work outcomes. The moderating analysis found no support for the categorical moderator of country. With respect to continuous moderators of sample characteristics employee age and gender, mixed evidence was found. Indicating that as the mean age of the employee increases, the relation between paternalistic leadership and authoritarian leadership and its outcomes increases. Additionally, the moderating analyses imply that as the male ratio increases, the relation between benevolent leadership and creativity decreases. Several implications as well as directions for future research are discussed, including the need conduct more research in countries outside of Confucian Asia.