A self-regulation model of leader authenticity based on mindful self-regulated attention and political skill

Despite much research on leader authenticity, its antecedents remain poorly understood. We develop a self-regulatory model of leader authenticity. The model explains how both mindful self-regulated attention and political skill, as well as their interaction, are important for leaders to be authentic, and ultimately effective. Mindful self-regulated attention—a core dimension of mindfulness defined as sustained attention centered on the present moment—helps leaders stay connected to their core self amid the busyness of their (work) lives, allowing leaders to feel authentic. And, particularly in combination with political skill—a social effectiveness construct—it helps leaders interact with their employees in a way that is experienced as authentic and effective. In an experimental study (Study 1), we found that leaders who mindfully self-regulate their attention feel more authentic. In a two-wave multi-source field study (Study 2), we found that leader self-regulated attention was positively associated with employee perceptions of leader authenticity and effectiveness. Further, this relation was stronger when leader political skill was high. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of this research

Is employee narcissism always toxic? – The role of narcissistic admiration, rivalry, and leaders’ implicit followership theories for employee voice

Organizational researchers are increasingly interested in investigating the influence of narcissism on the workplace. Drawing on self-determination theory and recent research that distinguishes two dimensions of narcissism and their different underlying motivational dynamics, we hypothesised that employee empowerment, and in turn voice, are differentially influenced by the two narcissism facets admiration and rivalry. In particular, we expected that employees’ narcissistic admiration is positively related to voice via empowerment, whereas rivalry is negatively related to voice via empowerment. Moreover, we investigated leaders’ implicit followership theories (IFTs) as moderator of the relationships between narcissistic rivalry and narcissistic admiration with empowerment. We argue that a leader’s positive IFTs buffer the negative effect of narcissistic rivalry and foster the positive effect of narcissistic admiration on empowerment, and in turn voice (i.e., first-stage moderated mediations). We found support for most of our predictions in a multi-wave field study using data from 268 leader-employee dyads. Theoretical and practical implications are explored

Light as a positive situational cue at work: Satisfaction with light relates to judgements of other’s warmth and competence

Workplace illumination is known to impact mood, performance and decision making. Based on the idea that positive feelings associated with light might influence social judgments in workplaces, we propose that satisfaction with light as a specific affective response to light would lead to positive judgments of other individuals. In a laboratory experiment (N=164), participants assessed their satisfaction with light and rated other person’s faces on warmth and competence. Results showed that satisfaction with light positively influenced judgment of others. We replicated the positive relation between satisfaction with light and social judgments in a field study with employees (N=176). These findings highlight the importance of satisfaction with light for social judgment in workplaces. We discuss theoretical contributions and practical implications concerning the design of settings involving the evaluation of other individuals. Practitioner Summary: The design of work settings where the evaluation of others takes place is an important topic. A laboratory experiment and a field study demonstrate that satisfaction with workplace illumination influences judgments of others. The results provide interesting possibilities for the design of work settings that involve the evaluation of others

Recovery in sensory-enriched break environments: Integrating vision, sound and scent into simulated indoor and outdoor environments

To deal with stress and exhaustion at work, personal resources need to be replenished during breaks. The aim of this laboratory study (n = 122 students) was to test the restorative potential of sensory-enriched break environments (SEBEs) in a between-subjects with repeated measures design, focusing on the type of the environment (natural outdoor vs. built indoor environment) and sensory input (no sensory input vs. audiovisual input vs. audiovisual and olfactory input). Analyses showed that SEBEs simulating either a natural or a lounge environment were perceived as more pleasant and restorative (fascination/being away) than a standard break room, which in turn facilitated the recovery of personal resources (mood, fatigue, arousal). Moreover, adding a congruent scent to an audiovisual simulation indirectly facilitated the recovery of personal resources via greater scent pleasantness and higher fascination and being away. The current study shows opportunities for sensory enrichment to foster restoration in break environments

View it in a different light: Mediated and moderated effects of dim warm light on collaborative conflict resolution

How can the physical environment, especially light, facilitate conflict resolution? Previous research has led to no clear answers about optimal lighting conditions in conflict situations and, until now, potential moderators and mediators have been scarcely investigated. Building on research on light-induced cooperativeness, we expected that self-oriented individuals would be influenced by the lighting in social situations such as conflict resolution. In self-oriented individuals, dim warm light should promote interdependent self-construal and, in turn, lead to a preference for collaborative conflict resolution strategies. Two studies confirmed our assumptions, with social dominance orientation and trait interdependent self-construal serving as indicators of individuals' social orientation. Overall, these results provide an explanation for inconsistent previous findings and contribute to the understanding of light-induced changes in social behavior. Limitations as well as practical implications for lighting design in social spaces are discussed

Core self-evaluations mediate the association between leaders' facial appearance and their professional success: Adults' and children's perceptions

Although the link between facial appearance and success is well established, the mechanisms responsible for this association have remained elusive. Evolutionary theory suggests that perceived leadership characteristics should be important for men’s self-concept. Drawing on implicit leadership theory and evolutionary perspectives, we therefore examined the associations between first impressions based on facial appearance, core self-evaluations (CSEs), leadership role occupancy, and career success among a sample of working men. In Study 1, we found that CSEs mediated the relationship between individuals’ facial appearance and measures of their success as leaders. In Study 2, we replicated these results using children’s ratings of facial appearance, thus suggesting that basic properties of the targets’ faces communicated their leadership ability more than the perceivers’ life experience or acquired knowledge. These results suggest that people may use facial appearance as a diagnostic tool to determine the leadership ability of others

Do they know how hard I work? Investigating how implicit/explicit achievement orientation, reputation, and political skill affect occupational status

Researchers have yet to precisely test the Socioanalytic proposition that social skill moderates the personality identity – personality reputation relationship. Further, although research has found personality to have both explicit and implicit aspects, scholars have not examined these differences with respect to the Socioanalytic perspective on personality. The present study investigates how explicit and implicit achievement orientation identities relate to one's reputation for that trait in the workplace and to career success, as measured by occupational status. We propose that explicit and implicit achievement orientation, political skill, and their interplay positively relate to reputation of achievement orientation at work, which, in turn, is positively related to occupational status. We found that 1) both explicit and implicit achievement orientation were positively associated with its reputation, as rated by coworkers, 2) reputation mediated both relations between implicit/explicit achievement orientation and occupational status, and 3) heightened political skill strengthened the relationship between explicit achievement orientation and its reputation, as well as its indirect effect on occupational status via reputation (first stage moderated-mediation). Our research provides a potential explanation for why observer ratings of personality are more strongly associated with outcomes than self-ratings: Observers perceive both implicit and explicit personality behaviours

Versatile click linker enabling native peptide release from nanocarriers upon redox trigger

Nanocarriers have shown their ability to extend the circulation time of drugs, enhance tumor uptake, and tune drug release. Therapeutic peptides are a class of drug compounds in which nanocarrier-mediated delivery can potentially improve their therapeutic index. To this end, there is an urgent need for orthogonal covalent linker chemistry facilitating the straightforward on-the-resin peptide generation, nanocarrier conjugation, as well as the triggered release of the peptide in its native state. Here, we present a copper-free clickable ring-strained alkyne linker conjugated to the N-terminus of oncolytic peptide LTX-315 via standard solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS). The linker contains (1) a recently developed seven-membered ring-strained alkyne, 3,3,6,6-tetramethylthiacycloheptyne sulfoximine (TMTHSI), (2) a disulfide bond, which is sensitive to the reducing cytosolic and tumor environment, and (3) a thiobenzyl carbamate spacer enabling release of the native peptide upon cleavage of the disulfide via 1,6-elimination. We demonstrate convenient "clicking" of the hydrophilic linker-peptide conjugate to preformed pegylated core-cross-linked polymeric micelles (CCPMs) of 50 nm containing azides in the hydrophobic core under aqueous conditions at room temperature resulting in a loading capacity of 8 mass % of peptide to polymer (56% loading efficiency). This entrapment of hydrophilic cargo into/to a cross-linked hydrophobic core is a new and counterintuitive approach for this class of nanocarriers. The release of LTX-315 from the CCPMs was investigated in vitro and rapid release upon exposure to glutathione (within minutes) followed by slower 1,6-elimination (within an hour) resulted in the formation of the native peptide. Finally, cytotoxicity of LTX CCPMs as well as uptake of sulfocyanine 5-loaded CCPMs was investigated by cell culture, demonstrating successful tumor cell killing at concentrations similar to that of the free peptide treatment

Creative destruction in science

Drawing on the concept of a gale of creative destruction in a capitalistic economy, we argue that initiatives to assess the robustness of findings in the organizational literature should aim to simultaneously test competing ideas operating in the same theoretical space. In other words, replication efforts should seek not just to support or question the original findings, but also to replace them with revised, stronger theories with greater explanatory power. Achieving this will typically require adding new measures, conditions, and subject populations to research designs, in order to carry out conceptual tests of multiple theories in addition to directly replicating the original findings. To illustrate the value of the creative destruction approach for theory pruning in organizational scholarship, we describe recent replication initiatives re-examining culture and work morality, working parents\u2019 reasoning about day care options, and gender discrimination in hiring decisions. Significance statement It is becoming increasingly clear that many, if not most, published research findings across scientific fields are not readily replicable when the same method is repeated. Although extremely valuable, failed replications risk leaving a theoretical void\u2014 reducing confidence the original theoretical prediction is true, but not replacing it with positive evidence in favor of an alternative theory. We introduce the creative destruction approach to replication, which combines theory pruning methods from the field of management with emerging best practices from the open science movement, with the aim of making replications as generative as possible. In effect, we advocate for a Replication 2.0 movement in which the goal shifts from checking on the reliability of past findings to actively engaging in competitive theory testing and theory building. Scientific transparency statement The materials, code, and data for this article are posted publicly on the Open Science Framework, with links provided in the article