ABSTRACT

Studies on the effects of leadership in occupational health psychology build on the assumption that leaders influence their followers’ health and well-being. Although this assumption has received support, this introductory paper to a special issue of Work & Stress on leadership argues that a number of questions regarding leadership and follower health and well-being remain unanswered. We identify four issues that we argue warrant further attention. First, what is “good” leadership? Particular leadership types are associated with increases in employee performance, but since this will involve higher effort expenditure, adverse outcomes for employee health are to be expected. Although many types of leadership are associated with favourable outcomes, we still need to identify the leadership characteristics can be identified that account for these positive outcomes. Second, how can good leadership be promoted? There is a need to develop interventions that are effective in promoting desirable leadership styles. Third, what are the inter-mediate and long-term effects of leadership on follower health? Finally, we need to understand the boundary conditions for good leadership, including the resources available to leaders. Based on these considerations, we conclude that further research is needed to fully understand the effects of leadership on employee health and well-being.

摘要

关于领导在职业健康心理学中的作用的研究基于这样的假设，即领导会影响其追随者的健康和福祉。尽管此假设得到了支持，但此介绍性文章专门针对《工作与压力》杂志关于领导力的论点认为，关于领导力，追随者健康和福祉的许多问题仍未得到解答。我们确定了我们认为值得进一步关注的四个问题。首先，什么是“好的”领导？特定的领导类型与员工绩效的提高相关，但是由于这将涉及更高的努力支出，因此预计会对员工健康产生不利影响。尽管许多类型的领导与良好的结果相关，但我们仍然需要确定可以确定导致这些积极结果的领导特征。第二，如何提升良好的领导才能？有必要制定有效地促进理想的领导风格的干预措施。第三，领导者对信徒健康的中长期影响是什么？最后，我们需要了解良好领导的边界条件，包括领导可用的资源。基于这些考虑，我们得出结论，需要进一步研究以充分了解领导对员工健康和福祉的影响。