The role of idealized influence leadership in promoting workplace forgiveness

Abstract

We integrated research in psychology on employee responses to mistreatment with the leadership literature to examine whether leadership can promote forgiveness in the workplace. Drawing on these literatures, we theorized that leaders who heighten follower collective identity—those who display idealized influence—should facilitate forgiveness among employees. The results of an experimental study and a 2-part field survey support our theorizing. The field study also demonstrated that idealized influence leadership suppressed two employee antisocial responses (avoidance, revenge). Of note, whereas idealized influence leadership had the predicted effects, transactional leadership did not. This dissociation is consistent with our reasoning regarding the mediating role of follower collective identity in the relation between idealized influence leadership and employees responses to unfair events. Together, our findings suggest that idealized influence leaders may motivate employees to respond to instances of workplace mistreatment in ways that are beneficial to themselves, others, and the organization.