The impact of dissonance in schema based leadership perceptions on employee engagement. Evidence from Australia

Date05 November 2018
Published date05 November 2018
Pages1309-1329
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/PR-03-2017-0081
AuthorSugumar Mariappanadar
Subject MatterHR & organizational behaviour,Global HRM
The impact of dissonance in
schema based leadership
perceptions on employee
engagement
Evidence from Australia
Sugumar Mariappanadar
Peter Faber Business School, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the possible consequences of the intra-individual level-
based perceptions of participative, supportive and instrumental leadership styles and the dissonance factors
of leadership styles perceptions on employee engagement using the information-processing and connectionist
perspectives of leadership perceptions.
Design/methodology/approach Hypotheses relating to direct and moderated effects of perceptions of
leadership styles on employee engagement were tested using a two-stage intra-individual level study (n¼172
in each stage). Hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses.
Findings The findings revealed that perceptions of preferred and experienced supportive leadership styles
are individually important predictors of employee engagement. It was also revealed that differentiated
leadership styles have stronger (complementary) effect on employee engagement when the perceptions of
experienced participative and supportive leadership styles were aligned with perceptions of respective
preferred leadership styles. Furthermore, it was also found that the low level compared to the high level of
dissonance factor or the difference between preferred and experienced instrumental leadership style acted as
a complementer on employee engagement.
Research limitations/implications This study has made contributions to facilitate scholars to build
better information-processing models and implicit theories for differentiated leadership and employee
engagementlinks. Finally, the study providesnew information on the consequenceof perceptions of leadership
style and the dissonancefactor of leadership perceptions on followersactions such as employee engagement.
Originality/value This will be the first empiric al study examining the rela tionships between the
dissonance factor of le adership perception s of participative, sup portive and instrument al styles and
employee engagement.
Keywords Connectionist theory, Dissonance in leadership perceptions, Employee engagement,
Leadership schema
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
The growing appeal for management practitioners and researchers in understanding employee
engagement are due to claims that employee engagement drives the bottomline results of
businesses. There is no one acceptable definition for employee engagement, because the
definition used in management consultancy organisations is different to that of scholarly
research (Schaufeli, 2013). Bailey et al. (2015) grouped employee engagement definitions and
approaches under three headings based on a review: engagement as a psychological state, as a
composite attitudinal and behavioural construct or as employment relations practice.
Considering the multiple definitions of employee engagement, the definition chosen for this
study is the satisfaction engagement approach of the Gallup organisation, employee
engagement refers to an individuals involvement and satisfaction with as well as enthusiasm
for work(Harter et al., 2002, p. 269). This definition of employee engagement highlights the
psychological state and it refers to employeesexperience of engagement based on perceived job
resources provided by management such as the style of leadership behaviour (Schaufeli, 2013).
Personnel Review
Vol. 47 No. 7, 2018
pp. 1309-1329
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0048-3486
DOI 10.1108/PR-03-2017-0081
Received 22 March 2017
Revised 25 December 2017
Accepted 21 April 2018
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0048-3486.htm
1309
Schema based
leadership
perceptions
There are a few empirical research studies available in the leadership and employee
engagement literature but those studies are restricted to the perception of transformational
leadership style and employee engagement (see Tims et al., 2011; Zhu et al., 2009;
Avery et al., 2007). Unlike transformation leadership, which includes a broader concept of
leadership for organisational performance (Strauss et al., 2009), the context of this study is to
empirically examine the dimensions of leadership behaviour in satisfying subordinate needs
to enhance employee engagement. Fong and Snape (2015) argue that differentiated
leadership behaviour highlights the extent to which a leader exhibits varying levels of
individual-focussed leadership behaviour to individual members to achieve organisational
commitment (a dimension of employee engagement) than transformation leadership-based
understanding. Furthermore, Arrowsmith and Parker (2013) indicated that there is a major
gap in research in understanding leadership behaviour resources as antecedents or
driversof employee engagement. Hence, the role of differentiated leadership (Wu et al.,
2010) is important for practitioners and researchers to gain a better understanding of
behaviour component-specific leadership influence on employee engagement, which is rare
in the implicit leadership literature. The first aim of the study is to find which of the three
different leadership styles (participative, instrumental and supportive) could predict
employee engagement so as to manage employees when they are disengaged and to
improve bottomline results of businesses.
It is also rare in the leadership and employee engagement literature that the impact
of a gap or a dissonance factor between followersperceptions of experienced and
preferred leadership styles on employee engagement is studied. Ho et al. (2009) defined
dissonance as the discrepancy between an individuals expectations (preferred) over the
reality of experienced (received) leadership styles from their supervisors in their
workplace. Person schemas of the implicit leadership theory (Lord and Foti, 1986;
Epitropaki and Martin, 2005) are generally considered to influence dissonance between the
preferred and experienced leadership perceptions. Furthermore, the connectionist theory
of leadership perception (Smith, 1996; Foti et al., 2008) indicates that subordinates
perception of experienced and preferred leadership styles can be dynamic and context
sensitive. That is, followersvalues and attitudes shaped by the dissonance in perceived
leadership styles will have an impact on followersbehavioural outcomes such as
employee engagement.
A growing number of studies have found that the dissonance factor of leadership
perceptions or gap between experienced and preferred leadership styles of managers
impact on satisfaction (Sellgren et al., 2006; Harter et al., 2003) as an aspect of employee
engagement. However, given the lack of evidence in establishing the impact of the
dissonance factor of leadership perceptions on the consequences of employee engagement, it
is important to empirically test the direct and moderator effects of the dissonance factor of
leadership perceptions on employee engagement, which is the second aim of the study.
In this paper; hereafter, the dissonance factor between experienced and preferred
perceptions of participative, supportive and instrumental leadership styles is referred to as
the dissonance factor of leadership perceptions.
There are several advantages in studying the two aims of the study to understand the
impacts of experienced and preferred perceptions of differentiated leadership styles and the
dissonance factor of leadership perceptions on employee engagement. First, perceptions of
leadership styles as a resource antecedent of employee engagement have been one of the
central debatesin the engagement literature(see Bailey et al., 2015; Buckingham and Coffman,
2005; Gruman andSaks, 2011; Harter et al., 2002). Thatis, supportive supervisor relationships
facilitate employeesleadership perceptions by fostering positive psychological conditions
that precede employee engagement. Hence, developing an empirical understanding
of the perception of each of participative, supportive and instrumental leadership styles as
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PR
47,7

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