Mood and the evaluation of leaders

Schyns, B.; Sanders, K.

Abstract

Research on the evaluation of leaders has shown that evaluation ratings are prone to several biases. The present study deals with one possible bias, namely, the relationship between mood and the perception or evaluation of a leader. The affect-as-information framework, which indicates that mood influences the response to certain kinds of questions, constitutes the theoretical background of the study. In the study, we ask students to indicate their mood, then to read a description of a leader (either transformational or transactional) and finally to evaluate the leader with respect to different leadership styles. The results indicate that mood is related to the perception of management-by-exception passive, but not others, e.g., transformational leadership. Reasons for these outcomes are discussed and implications for future research and organizational practice presented.

Citation

Schyns, B., & Sanders, K. (2003). Mood and the evaluation of leaders. Current research in social psychology, 9(4), 50-59

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Dec 1, 2003
• Deposit Date: Nov 29, 2010
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 7, 2011
• Journal: Current research in social psychology
• Electronic ISSN: 1088-7423
• Publisher: University of Iowa
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 9
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 50-59
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1514403
• Publisher URL: http://www.uiowa.edu/~grpproc/crisp/crisp.9.4.html