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The Influencing Mechanisms of Authentic Leadership on Feedback-Seeking Behaviour: A Cognitive/Emotive Model

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Abstract

In this paper, we first examine the relationship between authentic leadership and employee’s feedback-seeking behaviour. Following this we offer two perspectives to explain how and why authentic leadership promotes feedback-seeking behaviour. We suggest, from a cognitive perspective, that such leadership can influence the employees’ beliefs concerning the perceived value and cost of feedback seeking and in turn increase the likelihood of employees proactively engaging in such behaviour. We further argue that emotions also play a significant role in this process. We propose that feedback-seeking behaviour could also be promoted by authentic leaders through a mechanism of cultivating the employees’ positive emotions. We conclude by drawing out the theoretical contributions as well as the practical implications from this dual-perspective model, alongside a discussion of the promising directions for future research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Business School, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China

    Jing Qian

  2. School of Business Administration, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, China

    Fu Yang

  3. Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China

    Zhuo Rachel Han

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  1. Jing Qian
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  2. Fu Yang
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  3. Zhuo Rachel Han
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Correspondence to Zhuo Rachel Han.

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Qian, J., Yang, F. & Han, Z.R. The Influencing Mechanisms of Authentic Leadership on Feedback-Seeking Behaviour: A Cognitive/Emotive Model. Curr Psychol 35, 478–485 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-015-9316-z

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