Leader Power and Leader Self-Serving Behavior: the Role of Effective Leadership

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 46 (2010) 922–933

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Journal of Experimental Social Psychology j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s ev i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / j e s p

Leader power and leader self-serving behavior: The role of effective leadership beliefs and performance information
Diana Rus a,⁎, Daan van Knippenberg b, Barbara Wisse c a b c

University of Groningen, Grote Kruisstraat 2/1, 9712 TS Groningen, The Netherlands Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, PO Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands University of Groningen, Grote Kruisstraat 2/1, 9712 TS Groningen, The Netherlands

a r t i c l e

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a b s t r a c t
In this research we investigated the role played by leader power in determining leader self-serving behavior. Based on an integration of insights from research on the determinants of leader behavior and the powerapproach theory, we hypothesized that with higher leader power leader self-serving behavior is determined more by internal states like effective leadership beliefs and less by external cues like performance information. We found support for this prediction across two experiments and one organizational survey assessing leader behavior along a self-serving–group-serving continuum. Overall, these results suggest that whether leaders benefit the collective or act self-servingly is not a function of their power per se but rather that leader power determines the extent to which internal belief states or external cues influence leader selfversus group-serving behavior. © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Article history: Received 12 February 2010 Revised 30 May 2010 Available online 27 June 2010 Keywords: Power Leadership Self-serving behavior Leadership schemas Performance information

Recently the popular media has become replete with headlines decrying top executives ' lofty bonuses and profligate spending at a time when

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