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To cite this article: Anders Skogstad, Jørn Hetland, Lars Glasø & Ståle Einarsen (2014) Is avoidant
leadership a root cause of subordinate stress? Longitudinal relationships between laissez-
faire leadership and role ambiguity, Work & Stress: An International Journal of Work, Health &
Organisations, 28:4, 323-341, DOI: 10.1080/02678373.2014.957362
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Work & Stress, 2014
Vol. 28, No. 4, 323–341, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02678373.2014.957362
a
Department of Psychosocial Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway; bDepartment of
Leadership and Organizational Behaviour, BI Norwegian Business School, Oslo, Norway
(Received 9 February 2012; final version accepted 16 December 2013)
Within a stressor-strain framework, the aim of this study is to examine the influence of perceived
laissez-faire leadership – a type of leadership characterized by the superiors’ avoidance and inaction
when subordinates are experiencing a situational need for leadership – on stress in the form of
experiences of role ambiguity. This was tested within a prospective 3-wave research design with
time lags of 2 and 3 years respectively. A combination of 2 constructive types of leadership,
initiating structure and showing consideration, was included as a control. In a sample of 1771
employees drawn from the Norwegian working population, structural equation modelling supported
the hypothesis that perceived laissez-faire leadership would be positively related to experiencing
role ambiguity at 3 consecutive measurement points. The findings did not support a potential
reciprocal relationship between the two across time. Initiation of structure and Consideration were
not related to role ambiguity, providing strong evidence of the importance of laissez-faire leadership
within a stressor-strain framework. Demonstrating that laissez-faire leadership is a root source of
subordinate role ambiguity underlines the importance of superiors perceiving situations and
circumstances where subordinates experience a need for leadership and, accordingly, approaching
this need instead of avoiding it.
Keywords: leadership; laissez-faire; initiation of structure; consideration; role ambiguity; work-
related stress
Introduction
As pointed out by Hinkin and Schriesheim (2008a) as well as Judge and Piccolo (2004),
research on laissez-faire leadership is scarce compared to the abundant studies on
transformational and transactional forms of leadership. However, studies have shown that
the prevalence of laissez-faire leadership in contemporary working life is strikingly high
(Aasland, Skogstad, Notelaers, Nielsen, & Einarsen, 2010), with there being documented
negative associations of such leadership with subordinate satisfaction with the leader,
evaluations of leader effectiveness and subordinates experiencing stress (Judge & Piccolo,
2004; Skogstad, Einarsen, Torsheim, Aasland, & Hetland, 2007). Kelloway, Sivanathan,
Francis, and Barling (2005) therefore put forward the hypothesis that poor leadership,
including laissez-faire, is a root cause of important workplace stressors such as role
ambiguity. In line with this, it is reasonable to believe that laissez-faire leadership –
characterized by the avoidance of leadership behaviours, or the sheer lack of leader
presence when subordinates are in need of leadership (Bass & Avolio, 1994, 2004) – will
be closely related to subordinates experiencing stressful work situations characterized by
a lack of clarity regarding duties and responsibilities within the organization. Such
systematic relationships between laissez-faire leadership and role ambiguity were found
in a cross-sectional study (Skogstad et al., 2007). However, to our knowledge, no studies
have investigated these relationships in a longitudinal design to substantiate the direction
of their relationships. The present study thus aims to contribute to a more nuanced
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vice versa. In line with this, Bass (1990, p. 547) stated that “Laissez-faire leadership does
not seem to be the exact opposite of active leadership”. Likewise, Bass and Riggio (2006,
p. 9) stated that “Fundamental to the FRL model is that every leader displays each style to
some amount”. Laissez-faire leadership is probably different therefore from transactional
leadership forms in more ways than simply representing its antipole on an inactivity-
activity continuum for effective leadership.
As various descriptive definitions of laissez-faire leadership have been presented (see
Hinkin & Schriesheim, 2008a, for an overview), one feasible way of approaching the
concept of laissez-faire leadership is to examine its operational definition in the
Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (Form 5x-Short; Bass & Avolio, 2004, p. 98),
which has been the predominant measure of laissez-faire leadership. The MLQ
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include contingent rewards and consideration for individuals, which may be perceived as
active leadership approaches to attaining organizational goals and attending to individual
needs. Laissez-faire leadership is thus clearly distinguished from transactional and
transformational forms of leadership and constitutes a unique form of leadership that
should be studied in its own right.
As laissez-faire leadership is an integral part of the Full Range of Leadership (FRL)
model, probably the most studied leadership model over the last decades, our first idea
was to contrast and compare this leadership style with the two other styles of leadership in
the model, namely transactional and transformational. However, on reflection we decided
it would be even more fruitful to contrast and compare laissez-faire leadership with the
structuring and supportive leadership behaviours of Initiating Structure and showing
Consideration for subordinates, which may be perceived as the original “true” opposites
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of laissez-faire leadership (Lewin, Lippit, & White, 1939). Such forms of leadership are
missing in the FRL model (Yukl, 1999) but were firmly revalidated in a meta-study by
Judge, Piccolo, and Ilies (2004). In an exceptional meta-study, integrating leadership
forms from the FRL model with the “classical” leadership styles of Initiating Structure
and showing Consideration, Piccolo et al. (2012) found negative correlations of −.55 and
−.60 between laissez-faire leadership and Initiating Structure and Consideration,
respectively. The two meta-studies (Judge & Piccolo, 2004; Piccolo et al., 2012)
nonetheless showed comparable relationships between laissez-faire leadership and
transactional leadership and between laissez-faire leadership and Initiating Structure and
Consideration, respectively, which in turn substantiates that laissez-faire leadership by no
means represents the absence of other leadership forms but is a unique type of leadership
worth studying by itself.
The present study aims to investigate whether perceived laissez-faire leadership,
representing perceived active avoidance of leader behaviours when subordinates are in
need of such behaviours, explains subsequent increases in role ambiguity over and above
that of the constructive leadership styles of Initiating Structure and showing Considera-
tion. According to path-goal theory, in order to be effective, leaders have to provide
structure for subordinates by letting them know what they are expected to do and to
provide them with what is missing or needed in the situation (House, 1996). In his paper,
House (1996) proposed that leader Initiating Structure is related to lower levels of
follower role ambiguity, a point of view that received support in his 1971 study. In a field
experiment, Schaubroeck, Ganster, Sime, and Ditman (1993) found that after superiors
had been trained in a method of clarifying subordinates’ roles, a follow-up questionnaire
showed reduced subordinate role ambiguity. In line with this, Bandura (1997, p. 90),
stated that “clear roles are congruent with the cognitive representation processes” in
which individuals vicariously imagine or experience success in a task. Leaders’
clarification of expectations in subordinates’ work roles may thus be defined as a core
ingredient of leadership. There is reason to believe that a perceived avoidance of such a
clarification will probably result in increased role ambiguity, which in turn may be
associated with a broad range of negative outcomes (see, e.g. Chen & Bliese, 2002;
Jackson, Schwab, & Schuler, 1986; MacKenzie, Podsakoff, & Rich, 2001). Most studies
on role ambiguity, which has been described as the lack of clarity regarding duties,
objectives and responsibilities involved in fulfilling one’s role in the organization (Beehr &
Glazer, 2005), have employed the Rizzo, House, and Lirtzman scale (1970) in which, in
addition to an unpredictability component, role ambiguity is defined as a lack of “the
existence of clarity of behavioural requirements, often in terms of inputs from the
Work & Stress 327
environment, which would serve to guide behaviour, and provide knowledge that the
behaviour is appropriate”. (Rizzo et al., 1970, pp. 155–156), again demonstrating its close
relationship with leadership.
Even though Kahn, Wolfe, Quinn, Snoek, and Rosenthal (1964), in their seminal
studies on role conflict and role ambiguity, found superiors to be the strongest and most
powerful role senders in their interpersonal relationship with subordinates and, therefore,
probably a primary source of subordinates’ role ambiguity when exhibiting laissez-faire
behaviour, only a limited number of studies have investigated the actual relationship
between leader behaviour and follower role ambiguity. In addition, most studies are rather
old and, to our knowledge, only two have employed a longitudinal research design. In a
longitudinal study, Moyle (1998) showed that role ambiguity mediated the relationship
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between managerial support and job satisfaction, while Nielsen, Randall, Yarker, and
Brenner (2008) found that work characteristics, including role clarity, meaningfulness and
opportunities for development, mediated the relationship between transformational
leadership and psychological well-being.
Reviewing cross-sectional evidence, Fisher and Gitelson (1983) found a mean
correlation of −.37 between role ambiguity and satisfaction with the supervisor in their
meta-analysis. In their frequently cited meta-analysis, Jackson and Schuler (1985) found
that both leader Consideration and Initiating Structure were related to employees’ role
ambiguity (r = −.43 and r = −.44, respectively) which confirmed similar findings by
Schriesheim, House, and Kerr (1976). More recent studies have also confirmed a negative
relationship between showing Consideration and Initiating Structure, and measures of role
ambiguity and role stress (Dale & Fox, 2008; O’Driscoll & Beehr, 1994). With respect to
relationships between leadership forms in the FRL model and role ambiguity, Stordeur,
D’hoore, and Vandenberghe (2001) found transformational forms of leadership to be
associated with subordinates’ role ambiguity (r = −.42 and r = −.39, p < .001), while
contingent reward showed a more moderate yet, still, significant correlation (r = −.29,
p < .001). MacKenzie, Podsakoff, and Rich (2001) found comparable correlations (−.48)
between core transformational leadership and role ambiguity. Hinkin and Schriesheim
(2008a) and Jackson et al. (1986) found significant correlations (.39 and .43, respectively)
between contingent reward and role clarity, measured by unreversed scores of role
ambiguity. Based on the argument presented earlier, that Initiating structure and showing
Consideration may be defined as opposites of laissez-faire leadership, and their relative
strong predictions of role ambiguity, these leadership styles will be examined in the
present study.
However, the main aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of laissez-faire
leadership, representing perceived active avoidance of leader behaviours when sub-
ordinates are in need of such behaviours, and if such leadership explains subsequent
increases in role ambiguity over and above that of Initiating Structure and showing
Consideration. In this regard, it is interesting to note that Rizzo and colleagues (1970) in
their seminal work have already examined this relationship, documenting significant
correlations between leader role abdication (which may be seen as a proxy of laissez-faire
leadership) and role ambiguity (r = −.28 and r = −.17, p < .05), substantiating a
systematic negative relationship between the two variables. In a more recent cross-
sectional study in a representative sample of the Norwegian working population
(N = 2539), Hauge, Skogstad, and Einarsen (2007) found laissez-faire leadership to
correlate even more strongly with role ambiguity (r = .44, p <. 01), which is in line with
Hinkin and Schriesheim’s (2008a) finding (r = .47). Because there has been a systematic
328 A. Skogstad et al.
lack of studies focusing on laissez-faire leadership as an influential leadership style per se,
making it the “stepchild” in the FRL model (see, e.g. Hinkin & Schriesheim, 2008a), it is
time to “reverse the lenses” and turn them from the bright sides of leadership to its darker
sides, in this case in the form of laissez-faire leadership as an antecedent of role ambiguity.
This reversal is further supported by the fact that laissez-faire leadership has shown to be
associated with a variety of negative attitudinal and behavioural consequences, in the form
of negative correlations with follower job satisfaction, satisfaction with the leader and
leader effectiveness (Judge & Piccolo, 2004), as well as positive associations with job
insecurity (Aasland, 2012), health complaints (Einarsen, Skogstad, & Aasland, 2010),
burnout reactions (Hetland, Sandal, & Johnsen, 2007), work withdrawal and intentions to
leave (Skogstad, Notelaers, & Einarsen, 2009) and bullying (Hauge et al., 2007; Skogstad
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et al., 2007). Accordingly, in the present study laissez-faire will be the focal leadership style
as regards its effect on role ambiguity.
Kelloway and colleagues (2005, p. 97) state that researchers have argued that “role
ambiguity is the variable that might be most readily influenced by managers”. It is therefore
theoretically sound to hypothesize that laissez-faire leadership functions as a social stressor
which – over time – may cause elevated levels of subordinate role ambiguity, even over and
above that of limited Initiation of structure and lack of Consideration. According to the
Demand-Control-Support model (Karasek & Theorell, 1990) and the Job Demands-
Resources model (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007), employees’ experiences of low support
(which is highly probable during exposure to laissez-faire leadership) may lead to increased
stress reactions; this is a notion that has been supported in other longitudinal studies
showing the main effects of support on employees’ well-being and health outcomes (see de
Lange, Taris, Kompier, Houtman, & Bongers, 2003, for an overview). Hence, the present
study will focus on laissez-faire leadership as the main candidate for explaining role
ambiguity. However, as leaders over time will show destructive laissez-faire as well as
instances of constructive leadership behaviours, we will control for the influence of the
constructive behaviour of Initiation of structure and Consideration.
On the basis of this background our main hypothesis (H1) is that:
Role ambiguity tends to be investigated in conjunction with role conflict, often defined as
“the existence of two or more sets of expectations on the focal person (as well as sent role
pressures) such that compliance with one makes compliance with the other more difficult”
(Beehr, 1995, p. 58). However, in relation to laissez-faire leadership, such expectations
are contradictory as laissez-faire leadership represents a lack of leader behaviour and, as
such, also a lack of role expectations. As a lack of role expectations may not be directly
related to role conflict, we regard it as theoretically unsound to study relationships
between this form of leadership and role conflict. Another issue of concern is that the
concept of role conflict is related to the presence of various role-senders (e.g. intra-sender,
inter-sender and person-role conflicts) both in its definition (Beehr, 1995) and in the
operationalization of the concept (Rizzo et al., 1970), which makes it difficult to interpret
results relating to the influence of leaders’ role expectations compared to other sources of
expectations. Thus, it is the respondent’s overall impression of a number of sources of
role messages that is measured most often (Beehr, 1995). Consequently, role conflict is
not included in the present study.
Work & Stress 329
Hypothesis 2. A reciprocal relationship will exist between laissez-faire leadership and role
ambiguity in that laissez-faire leadership will be positively related to role ambiguity at the
same time as role ambiguity is positively related to laissez-faire leadership at three
consecutive measurement points.
In testing our two hypotheses we will control for the potential effect of a leader merely
being low on a compound variable consisting of both Initiation of Structure and
Consideration.
Method
The present study is based on longitudinal survey data from a nationwide sample of the
Norwegian workforce. The survey was approved by the Regional Committee for Medical
Research Ethics in Western Norway. Data were collected at three time points, with a time
lag of two years between T1 and T2, and three years between T2 and T3. In 2005 (T1), a
random sample of 4500 employees was drawn from the Norwegian Central Employee
Register (NCER) by Statistics Norway (SSB). The sampling criteria were adults between
18 and 67 years of age who were registered in the NCER as being employed during the
preceding six months in a Norwegian enterprise with a staff of five or more, working a mean
of at least 15 hours per week. Questionnaires were distributed through the Norwegian Postal
Service. A total of 2539 questionnaires were returned in the first wave (response rate 57%),
securing a response rate slightly above the typical response rate in this kind of survey
research (Baruch & Holtom, 2008). This sample may be considered to be representative of
the Norwegian working population, according to the criteria above, when controlling for
participants’ age and location (county), but female participants were somewhat better
represented in the actual sample (52%) compared to the original sample drawn (47%)
(Høstmark & Lagerstrøm, 2006). Using the same procedure, the second and third waves of
data were collected in 2007 (T2) and in 2010 (T3). The study sample consisted of
participants responding in waves 1, 2 and 3, or in wave 1 combined with waves 2 or 3,
respectively; a total of 1771 employees, representing a response rate of 70% from the
first wave.
Participants
The mean age of participants in the T1 sample was 43.8 years (SD = 11.5), with a range
from 19 to 66 years of age. The majority of the respondents were in full-time (77%) or
330 A. Skogstad et al.
Measures
Role ambiguity was measured using the scale of Rizzo et al. (1970) and consisted of six
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items, formulated as expressions of role clarity. According to the authors’ instructions and
use of the scale (see, e.g. a meta-study by Jackson & Schuler, 1985), reversed scores were
used to measure role ambiguity. An example of an item is “I know exactly what my
responsibilities are”). The scale had seven response categories ranging from “very false”
to “very true” (Cronbach’s alphas in the range .85–.87). In some studies, unreversed
scores are used as a measure of role clarity (see, e.g. Hinkin & Schriesheim, 2008a).
Laissez-faire leadership behaviour was measured by four items from the Multifactor
Leadership Questionnaire (Bass & Avolio, 2004; Hinkin & Schriesheim, 2008b), an
example being “… is absent when needed”. (Cronbach’s alphas are in the range of .68
to .71).
Leaders’ initiating structure and showing consideration for subordinates, represented
in this study by a compound indicator Initiating Structure and Consideration, were
measured by three items from a short version of Ekvall and Arvonen’s (1991) leadership
questionnaire. The three items are “Sets clear goals”, “Defines and explains the work
requirements clearly” and “Shows appreciation for good work”. (Cronbach’s alphas are in
the range of .73 to .76.).
For all leadership scales, four response categories were employed (“never”,
“sometimes”, “quite often” and “very often/nearly always”), and the respondents were
asked to report on leadership behaviour that they had experienced during the last six
months.
Control variables in the present study were gender, age and change of leader between
follow-ups. With respect to the latter, two dichotomous variables were constructed,
namely, change of leader between 2005 and 2007, and between 2007 and 2010.
Statistical analysis
Our hypotheses were tested by Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) using Mplus 6.0
(Muthén & Muthén, 2012). In order to adequately handle non-normality in study
variables, maximum likelihood with robust standard errors (MLR) was applied. MLR is
robust to violations of non-normality (Brown, 2006). The goodness-of-fit of the SEM
models was evaluated using a chi-square value, with a non-significant p-value indicating
a good fit (Kelloway, 1998), a root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) with
values of .05 or less indicating a good fit (Steiger, 1990) and a comparative fit index
(CFI) and Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) with values of 0.90 or above indicating a good fit
(Hu & Bentler, 1999). Comparisons between nested models were performed using the
Satorra-Bentler scaled chi-square difference test taking into account the MLR correction
Work & Stress 331
factor (Satorra & Bentler, 2001). Missing data were estimated by full information
maximum likelihood (FIML).
Results
Descriptive statistics
Means, standard deviations and correlations for the study variables are shown in Table 1.
Laissez-faire leadership, Initiating Structure and Consideration, and role ambiguity were
represented by summing the scores across the three measurement occasions.
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Table 1. Means, standard deviations and correlations between study variables (N = 1771).
Mean SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
A. Skogstad et al.
6. Role ambiguity T2 2.20 0.95 .32** −.18** .60** .44** −.29** 1.00
7. Laissez faire T3 0.51 0.49 .39** −.09** .22** .39** −.11** .26** 1.00
8. Constructive T3 1.51 0.70 −.14** .35** −.07* −.15** .37** −.09** −.33** 1.00
9. Role ambiguity T3 2.21 0.94 .28** −.16** .49** .35** −.16** .53** .43** −.28** 1.00
10. Gender 1.55 0.50 .01 .01 −.04 −.05* .03 −.05* −.07* .03 −.07* 1.00
11. Age 45.22 11.29 −.01 −.05* −.09** −.04 −.07* −.11** −.04 −.09** −.13** −.07** 1.00
12. Change leader 0.19 0.39 .02 .05 .03 .02 .04 .04 .03 .05 −.01 .01 −.05 1.00
2005−2007
13. Change leader 0.46 0.50 .09** −.05 .10** .05 −.01 .06* .01 .00 .15** .03 −.12** −.45**
2007−2010
Note: Laissez-faire and Constructive refer to leadership styles, where constructive was operationalized as a combined measure of leaders’ initiating structure and showing
consideration.
*p < .05; **p < .01.
Work & Stress 333
to the data (CFI = .94, TLI = .93 and RMSEA = .03). Parameter estimates from the final
model are shown in Figure 1.
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As shown in Figure 1, Stability coefficients in the range .53–.65 were found for
laissez-faire leadership, while the corresponding range of coefficients for Initiating
Structure and Consideration, and role ambiguity were .49–.56 and .52–.59, respectively.
The within-measurement correlations between laissez-faire leadership and role ambiguity
ranged from .57 at the first measurement to .40 at the final measurement. The within-
measurement correlations between Initiating Structure and Consideration and role
ambiguity, were −.36, −.33 and −.38 at T1, T2 and T3, respectively. The corresponding
within-measurement correlations between laissez-faire leadership and Initiating Structure
and Consideration ranged from −.42 at T1 to −.49 at T3. Only three significant paths
were found between the control variables and the study constructs. A significant negative
–0.42
.56 –0.36
.38 –0.38
Laissez faire Role Constructive
leadership T3 ambiguity T3 leadership T3
–0.49
path was found from gender to laissez-faire leadership at T2 (β = −.05, p < .05),
indicating lower reporting of laissez- faire leadership by female respondents. Correspond-
ingly, age was negatively related to role ambiguity at T2 (β = −.07, p < .01), and change
of leader between T2 and T2 was positively related to role ambiguity at T3 (β = .11,
p < .01). Finally, the lagged paths from laissez faire leadership to role ambiguity were .09
(p < .01) from T1 to T2, and .11 (p < .05) from T2 to T3.
Discussion
The effects of laissez-faire leadership on subordinates have rarely been studied. In this
three-wave study we tested the effect of such leadership on subordinates’ stress in the
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obligations and requirements in the leadership role, and especially when subordinates find
themselves in need of leadership. According to Rizzo and colleagues (1970) and Beehr and
Glazer (2005), the lack of information and clarity of behavioural requirements are essential
in creating role ambiguity. There is reason to believe that role clarity – and its opposite, role
ambiguity – may be influenced by various persons in a given role in the work arena).
However, according to prevailing theoretical perspectives, such as the Full Range of
Leadership model, path goal theory and Leader-Member Exchange Theory, as well as
according to empirical findings from meta-studies, there is reason to believe that the actions
– and the avoidance of actions – of leaders are most influential with respect to subordinates’
role ambiguity.
The present longitudinal study, consisting of three waves, confirms theoretical models
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as well as findings from earlier cross-sectional studies, and provides support for there
being a significant influence of immediate superiors’ laissez-faire leadership behaviour on
subordinate’s role ambiguity.
This study also supports the notion that laissez-faire leadership is a unique type of
leadership by being a significant predictor of role ambiguity over time, while by contrast
the “classical” constructive leadership styles of leaders’ Initiating Structure and showing
Consideration (as a compound variable in the present study), appeared to have an
insignificant influence on role ambiguity. The avoidance of leadership responsibilities in
leader-follower relationships, in the form of laissez-faire leadership, may thus be decisive
in explaining subordinates’ experience of work-related stress. In line with the “bad is
stronger than good” assumption, which has received strong support in a variety of human
interaction arenas (Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Finkenauer, & Vohs, 2001), there are strong
arguments for leadership researchers focusing primarily on the negative aspects of
leadership behaviour, such as laissez-faire leadership, especially when studying leadership
within a stressor-strain framework. Moreover, when role stress is studied as a mediator in
the leader behaviour-outcome chain (see Moyle, 1998; Nielsen et al., 2008), laissez-faire
leadership is a strong candidate for inclusion. Leadership scholars may therefore benefit
from including laissez-faire leadership in their studies more often. For example, when
studying the unique effects of various forms of leadership on subordinate attitudes,
behaviour and health in times of context uncertainty, laissez-faire leadership may be of
primary interest (see, e.g. Balogun, 2003).
prove a causal relationship as such (see, e.g. Antonakis, Bendaham, Jacquart, & Lalive,
2010). Furthermore, the predictor and the criterion variables were both collected from
subordinates. Thus, the present study is based on subordinates rating both their perception
of their immediate superior’s behaviour and their own role ambiguity. However,
employing a longitudinal design will minimize the likelihood of the relationship between
the two study variables being strictly artefactual. Nevertheless, alternative observations of
leadership behaviour, e.g. from the immediate leader’s superior, as well as restricting the
study to the behaviours of only the same immediate superiors across all three
measurement points, may have strengthened the validity of the study. However, because
a majority of the respondents (944 of 1771) changed their immediate leaders from T1 to
T2 and/or from T2 to T3, only including those of the respondents having the same leader
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across the three measurements would substantially reduce the statistical power in the
analysis. Furthermore, as mentioned above, a major strength of the present study is the
use of a systematically drawn national sample. By including less than half of the sample,
the generalizability of the study would be weakened. Accordingly, we chose to control the
respective dependent variables at T2 and T3 for the effects of changing leader from T1 to
T2 and/or from T2 to T3.
This study employed an autoregressive cross-lagged model. Growth curve modelling
could alternatively have been used (see, e.g. Curran & Bollen, 2002). With respect to time
lags, the study used two and three years, respectively. Although such time intervals may
bolster confidence in the results, it may be that subordinates’ experiences of the
immediate superior’s laissez-faire leadership as well as their own role ambiguity vary over
time. Future studies of the relationships between leadership behaviour and role stress
should therefore also test alternative time intervals to explore how long it takes for
laissez-faire leadership to significantly influence role ambiguity (see, e.g. Moyle 1998,
where six-month intervals were used when testing relationships between perceptions of
managerial support, role clarity and job satisfaction).
In general, in order for the present study to be comparable to the majority of recent
leadership studies, it may have benefited from including transactional and transforma-
tional forms of leadership as measured by the MLQ, even though “classical” types of
leadership such as Initiating Structure and Consideration may be more relevant in the
present study (see also Yukl (1999) for a discussion of the limitations of the MLQ). There
is a strong need for theoretically-driven studies on this type of leadership, with respect to
its precursors and outcomes as well as moderating and mediating factors. It is therefore
highly important within a stressor-strain framework to gain nuanced knowledge about
what organizational and individual factors influence the impact of laissez-faire leadership
on stress outcomes. In this respect, leader-follower structural, functional and psycholo-
gical distance (Antonakis & Atwater, 2002), and leader and follower competence
uncertainty (Mayer, Thau, Workman, Van Dijke, & Cremer, 2012) are some interesting
candidates worth investigating in future studies. Furthermore, in future studies of avoidant
and non-leadership forms of leadership, it will also be highly relevant to employ
alternative approaches and measures. For instance, in their study of non-leadership,
Hinkin and Schriesheim (2008a) investigated the effects of leader reward omission and
punishment omission on good and poor subordinate performance. This alternative
approach illustrates that the domain of avoidant and non-leadership behaviours is
probably populated with a variety of leader-avoidant and non-leader behaviours.
Work & Stress 337
Conclusion
The study was conducted for theoretical, empirical, methodological and applied reasons.
Firstly, we believe that it makes an important contribution to our understanding of laissez-
faire leadership as an independent type of leadership, within a stressor-strain framework,
compared to effectiveness and satisfaction frameworks (Örtqvist & Wincent, 2006). It also
provides valuable empirical findings by testing the theoretical proposition that laissez-faire
leadership is a root cause of workplace role stress, employing a three-wave longitudinal
design. By demonstrating an exclusive effect of laissez-faire leadership on role ambiguity,
and no effect of constructive leadership in the form of Initiating Structure and Consideration
as a control, the study provides strong evidence for laissez-faire leadership being a highly
relevant and influential type of leadership worth studying in itself.
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Our findings indicate that laissez-faire leadership may be more important for
subordinates than is reflected in the majority of leadership studies, which emphasize
transformational and transactional forms of leadership and their relationships with attitude
and effectiveness correlates. Bass and Avolio (1994) stated that laissez-faire leadership is
the least effective type of leadership. However, with respect to the effects on subordinates’
working conditions and experience of stress, the opposite may also be true; laissez-faire
leadership is highly effective in a negative sense, i.e. in creating a stressful working
environment. In line with the “Bad is stronger than good” assumption (Baumeister et al.,
2001), the employment of laissez-faire leadership may in various circumstances be just as
important, or even more important, for follower attitudes and behavioural outcomes as the
employment of transactional and transformational forms of leadership.
From an applied perspective, our findings show that leaders in general should avoid
laissez-faire leadership, which from a follower-centred perspective may be defined as “not
meeting the legitimate expectations of the subordinates” (Skogstad et al., 2007, p. 81). This
is probably especially true when subordinates are in need of leadership. Organizations in
general, as well as leadership development programmes in particular, should thus address
laissez-faire leadership behaviour and its negative effects just as much as they do
transactional and transformational forms of leadership. It may be of the utmost importance
for superiors to know when to act – and not to act – in their relationships with subordinates,
and thus not confuse empowering leadership with laissez-faire leadership behaviours. In
line with the present results, superiors consistently not taking action when subordinates are
in need of leadership can probably not therefore be perceived as a zero-type of leadership,
but more as destructive leaders maintaining and even escalating the experience of a stressful
work environment, with potentially very strong negative effects on employees’ satisfaction
and effectiveness.
Acknowledgements
This is a collaborative project between the University of Bergen and Statistics Norway, which
collected the data. We would like to thank Bengt Oscar Lagerstrøm and Maria Høstmark of
Statistics Norway and Stig Berge Matthiesen of the Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen,
for their contribution to the data collection.
338 A. Skogstad et al.
Funding
The project was made possible by joint grants from two Norwegian employer associations (the
Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise and the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional
Authorities), and the Norwegian government (the National Insurance Administration) and their
FARVE programme.
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