Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Is an informal leader always popular? The curvilinear relationships between informal leadership, threat to peers, and helping from peers

  • Published:
Asia Pacific Journal of Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The positive effect of informal leadership has been well established, whereas our understanding of its potential negative effect in interpersonal interaction is still limited. This study explores the influence of individual informal leadership on helping received from peers from an interpersonal interaction perspective. Drawing upon social comparison theory, we posit that a focal employee’s moderate level of informal leadership in a team can pose a threat to peers, which inhibits the helping behavior from peers to the focal employee. To test our hypothesis, we conducted an experiment in Study 1 and a field survey in Study 2. The results revealed that individual informal leadership had a curvilinear relationship with helping behavior from peers via threat to peers. Furthermore, the focal employee’s political skill mitigated this curvilinear effect. Theoretical and future research implications are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

Notes

  1. Prior research has proposed two equations to examine curvilinear moderation. On the one hand, some scholars, including Tangirala and Ramanujam (2008), have suggested a more constrained equation (Y = b0 + b1X+b2M+b3XM+b4 X 2+e). On the other hand, Vegt and Bunderson (2005) adpoted a less constrained mode (Y = b0 + b1X+b2M+b3XM+b4X2+b5X2M+e), differing in the inclusion of a higher-order interaction between the moderator and the quadratic term of the predictor. The former assumes a fixed curvilinear shape, whereas the latter allows it to vary with the moderator, potentially altering the curve's direction. In terms of the conceptualization in the current research, it was predicted that the U-shaped relationship between informal leadership and helping from peers would change according to political skill. Therefore, we use the less constrained model.

References

  • Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alicke, M. D., Loschiavo, F. M., Zerbst, J., & Zhang, S. (1997). The person who outperforms me is a genius: Maintaining perceived competence in upward social comparison. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73(4), 781–789.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Anicich, E. M., Fast, N. J., Halevy, N., & Galinsky, A. D. (2016). When the bases of social hierarchy collide: Power without status drives interpersonal conflict. Organization Science, 27(1), 123–140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beersma, B., Hollenbeck, J. R., Humphrey, S. E., Moon, H., Conlon, D. E., & Ilgen, D. R. (2003). Cooperation, competition, and team performance: Toward a contingency approach. Academy of Management Journal, 46(5), 572–590.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bendersky, C., & Hays, N. A. (2012). Status conflict in groups. Organization Science, 23(2), 323–340.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blickle, G., Kückelhaus, B. P., Kranefeld, I., Schütte, N., Genau, H. A., Gansen-Ammann, D. N., & Wihler, A. (2020). Political skill camouflages Machiavellianism: Career role performance and organizational misbehavior at short and long tenure. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 118, 103401.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bolino, M. C., Klotz, A. C., Turnley, W. H., & Harvey, J. (2013). Exploring the dark side of organizational citizenship behavior. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 34(4), 542–559.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonner, J. M., Greenbaum, R. L., & Quade, M. J. (2017). Employee unethical behavior to shame as an indicator of self-image threat and exemplification as a form of self-image protection: The exacerbating role of supervisor bottom-line mentality. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(8), 1203–1221.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Borgatti, S. P., Mehra, A., Brass, D. J., & Labianca, G. (2009). Network analysis in the social sciences. Science, 323(5916), 892–895.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Brickman, P., & Bulman, R. J. (1977). Pleasure and pain in social comparison. In J. M. Suls, & R. L. Miller (Eds.), Social comparison processes: Theoretical and empirical perspectives. Hemisphere.

  • Briker, R., Hohmann, S., Walter, F., Lam, C. K., & Zhang, Y. (2021). Formal supervisors’ role in stimulating team members’ informal leader emergence: Supervisor and member status as critical moderators. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 42(7), 913–932.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brislin, R. W. (1980). Translation and content analysis of oral and written material. In H. C. Triandis, & J. W. Berry (Eds.), Handbook of cross-cultural psychology (Vol. 444, p. 389). Allyn & Bacon.

  • Brown, D. J., Ferris, D. L., Heller, D., & Keeping, L. M. (2007). Antecedents and consequences of the frequency of upward and downward social comparisons at work. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 102(1), 59–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buunk, A. P., & Gibbons, F. X. (2007). Social comparison: The end of a theory and the emergence of a field. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 102(1), 3–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buunk, B. P., Collins, R. L., Taylor, S. E., VanYperen, N. W., & Dakof, G. A. (1990). The affective consequences of social comparison: Either direction has its ups and downs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59(6), 1238–1249.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Call, M. L., Nyberg, A. J., & Thatcher, S. (2015). Stargazing: An integrative conceptual review, theoretical reconciliation, and extension for star employee research. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100(3), 623–640.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, E. M., Liao, H., Chuang, A., Zhou, J., & Dong, Y. (2017). Hot shots and cool reception? An expanded view of social consequences for high performers. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(5), 845–866.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Carlson, D. S., Thompson, M. J., & Kacmar, K. M. (2019). Double-crossed: The spillover and crossover effects of work demands on work outcomes through the family. Journal of Applied Psychology, 104(2), 214–228.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Carson, J. B., Tesluk, P. E., & Marrone, J. A. (2007). Shared leadership in teams: An investigation of antecedent conditions and performance. Academy of Management Journal, 50, 1217–1234.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carter, D. R., DeChurch, L. A., Braun, M. T., & Contractor, N. S. (2015). Social network approaches to leadership: An integrative conceptual review. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100(3), 597–622.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cheung, F., & Lucas, R. E. (2016). Income inequality is associated with stronger social comparison effects: The effect of relative income on life satisfaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 110(2), 332–341.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chiu, C. Y., Nahrgang, J. D., Bartram, A., Wang, J., & Tesluk, P. E. (2021). Leading the team, but feeling dissatisfied: Investigating informal leaders’ energetic activation and work satisfaction and the supporting role of formal leadership. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 42(4), 527–550.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen-Charash, Y., & Mueller, J. S. (2007). Does perceived unfairness exacerbate or mitigate interpersonal counterproductive work behaviors related to envy? Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(3), 666–680.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Coleman, V. I., & Borman, W. C. (2000). Investigating the underlying structure of the citizenship performance domain. Human Resource Management Review, 10(1), 25–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Contractor, N. S., Wasserman, S., & Faust, K. (2006). Testing multitheoretical, multilevel hypotheses about organizational networks: An analytic framework and empirical example. Academy of Management Review, 31(3), 681–703.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cook, A., Meyer, B., Gockel, C., & Zill, A. (2019). Adapting leadership perceptions across tasks: Micro-origins of informal leadership transitions. Small Group Research, 50(2), 227–265.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Cremer, D. (2003). How self-conception may lead to inequality: Effect of hierarchical roles on the equality rule in organizational resource-sharing tasks. Group & Organization Management, 28(2), 282–302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • del Carmen Triana, M., Porter, C. O., DeGrassi, S. W., & Bergman, M. (2013). We’re all in this together… except for you: The effects of workload, performance feedback, and racial distance on helping behavior in teams. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 34(8), 1124–1144.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Den Hartog, D. N., De Hoogh, A. H. B., & Keegan, A. E. (2007). The interactive effects of belongingness and charisma on helping and compliance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(4), 1131–1139.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, J. R., & Lambert, L. S. (2007). Methods for integrating moderation and mediation: A general analytical framework using moderated path analysis. Psychology Methods, 12, 1–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farh, C. I., & Chen, Z. (2014). Beyond the individual victim: Multilevel consequences of abusive supervision in teams. Journal of Applied Psychology, 99(6), 1074.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ferris, G. R., Treadway, D. C., Kolodinsky, R. W., Hochwarter, W. A., Kacmar, C. J., & Douglas, C. (2005). Development and validation of the political skill inventory. Journal of Management: Official Journal of the Southern Management Association, 31, 126–152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferris, G. R., Treadway, D. C., Perrewé, P. L., Brouer, R. L., Douglas, C., & Lux, S. (2007). Political skill in organizations. Journal of Management, 33(3), 290–320.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Festinger, L. (1954). A theory of social comparison processes. Human Relations, 7, 117–140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fransen, K., Mertens, N., Cotterill, S. T., Broek, V., & Boen, F. (2020). From autocracy to empowerment: Teams with shared leadership perceive their coaches to be better leaders. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 32(1), 5–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, T. L. (2006). The world is flat: The globalized world in the twenty-first century. Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerber, J. P., Wheeler, L., & Suls, J. (2018). A social comparison theory meta-analysis 60 + years on. Psychological Bulletin, 144(2), 177–197.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gilbert, D. T., Giesler, R. B., & Morris, K. A. (1995a). When comparisons arise. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 227–236.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gilbert, P., Price, J., & Allan, S. (1995b). Social comparison, social attractiveness and evolution: How might they be related? New Ideas in Psychology, 13(2), 149–165.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gong, S., Lu, J. G., Schaubroeck, J. M., Li, Q., Zhou, Q., & Qian, X. (2020). Polluted psyche: Is the effect of air pollution on unethical behavior more physiological or psychological? Psychological Science, 31(8), 1040–1047.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, P. S., & Haisley, E. (2007). Social comparison processes in an organizational context: New directions. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 102(1), 109–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graham, K. A., Dust, S. B., & Ziegert, J. C. (2018). Supervisor-employee power distance incompatibility, gender similarity, and relationship conflict: A test of interpersonal interaction theory. Journal of Applied Psychology, 103(3), 334–346.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grant, A. M., & Gino, F. (2010). A little thanks goes a long way: Explaining why gratitude expressions motivate prosocial behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98(6), 946–955.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grant, A. M., & Mayer, D. M. (2009). Good soldiers and good actors: Prosocial and impression management motives as interactive predictors of affiliative citizenship behaviors. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(4), 900–912.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Greenberg, J., Ashton-James, C. E., & Ashkanasy, N. M. (2007). Social comparison processes in organizations. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 102, 22–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greer, L. L., Van Bunderen, L., & Yu, S. (2017). The dysfunctions of power in teams: A review and emergent conflict perspective. Research in Organizational Behavior, 37, 103–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grosser, T. J., Obstfeld, D., Choi, E. W., Woehler, M., Lopez-Kidwell, V., Labianca, G., & Borgatti, S. P. (2018). A sociopolitical perspective on employee innovativeness and job performance: The role of political skill and network structure. Organization Science, 29(4), 612–632.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guo, Z. A., Heidl, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Yu, A., & Howe, M. (2022). When discretionary boundary spanning relationships cease becoming discretionary: The impact of closed ties on informal leadership perceptions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 107(6), 898–916.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, D. A., & Shaffer, M. A. (1994). Comparative examinations of self-reports and perceived absenteeism norms: Wading through Lake Wobegon. Journal of Applied Psychology, 79(2), 240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayes, A. F., & Preacher, K. J. (2010). Quantifying and testing indirect effects in simple mediation models when the constituent paths are nonlinear. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 45, 627–660.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hu, J., Zhang, Z., Jiang, K., & Chen, W. (2019). Getting ahead, getting along, and getting prosocial: Examining extraversion facets, peer reactions, and leadership emergence. Journal of Applied Psychology, 104(11), 1369–1386.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen, J. M., Patel, P. C., & Raver, J. L. (2014). Is it better to be average? High and low performance as predictors of employee victimization. Journal of Applied Psychology, 99(2), 296–309.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kamdar, D., McAllister, D. J., & Turban, D. B. (2006). All in a day’s work: How Follower Individual differences and Justice Perceptions Predict OCB Role definitions and Behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(4), 841–855.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Katz, D., & Kahn, R. L. (1978). The social psychology of organizations (2nd ed.). Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim, E., & Glomb, T. M. (2014). Victimization of high performers: The roles of envy and work group identification. Journal of Applied Psychology, 99, 619–634.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, Y. J., Van Dyne, L., Kamdar, D., & Johnson, R. E. (2013). Why and when do motives matter? An integrative model of motives, role cognitions, and social support as predictors of OCB. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 121(2), 231–245.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kimura, T. (2015). A review of political skill: Current research trend and directions for future research. International Journal of Management Reviews, 17(3), 312–332.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kolbe, M., Grote, G., Waller, M. J., Wacker, J., Grande, B., Burtscher, M. J., & Spahn, D. R. (2014). Monitoring and talking to the room: Autochthonous coordination patterns in team interaction and performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 99(6), 1254–1267.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Koopman, J., Lin, S. H., Lennard, A. C., Matta, F. K., & Johnson, R. E. (2020). My coworkers are treated more fairly than me! A self-regulatory perspective on justice social comparisons. Academy of Management Journal, 63(3), 857–880.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Korsgaard, M. A., Meglino, B. M., Lester, S. W., & Jeong, S. S. (2010). Paying you back or paying me forward: Understanding rewarded and unrewarded organizational citizenship behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(2), 277–290.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lam, C. K., Van, V. G. S., Walter, F., & Huang, X. (2011). Harming high performers: A social comparison perspective on interpersonal harming in work teams. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96, 588–601.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lanaj, K., & Jennings, R. E. (2020). Putting leaders in a bad mood: The affective costs of helping followers with personal problems. Journal of Applied Psychology, 105(4), 355–371.

  • Lanaj, K., Johnson, R. E., & Lee, S. M. (2016). Benefits of transformational behaviors for leaders: A daily investigation of leader behaviors and need fulfillment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 101(2), 237–251.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lavric, A., Rippon, G., & Gray, J. R. (2003). Threat-evoked anxiety disrupts spatial working memory performance: An attentional account. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 27, 489–504.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, S. Y., Kesebir, S., & Pillutla, M. M. (2016). Gender differences in response to competition with same-gender coworkers: A relational perspective. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 110(6), 869–886.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • LePine, J. A., & Van Dyne, L. (2001). Voice and cooperative behavior as contrasting forms of contextual performance: Evidence of differential relationships with big five personality characteristics and cognitive ability. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86, 326–336.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Li, F., Chen, T., Bai, Y., Liden, R. C., Wong, M. N., & Qiao, Y. (2022). Serving while being energized (strained)? A dual-path model linking servant leadership to leader psychological strain and job performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 108(4), 660–675.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Liao, H., Chuang, A., & Joshi, A. (2008). Perceived deep-level dissimilarity: Personality antecedents and impact on overall job attitude, helping, work withdrawal, and turnover. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 106(2), 106–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liao, Z., Yam, K. C., Johnson, R. E., Liu, W., & Song, Z. (2018). Cleansing my abuse: A reparative response model of perpetrating abusive supervisor behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 103(9), 1039–1056.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lin, S. H., Scott, B. A., & Matta, F. K. (2019). The dark side of transformational leader behaviors for leaders themselves: A conservation of resources perspective. Academy of Management Journal, 62(5), 1556–1582.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, S., Jiang, K., Chen, J., Pan, J., & Lin, X. (2018). Linking employee boundary spanning behavior to task performance: The influence of informal leader emergence and group power distance. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 29(12), 1879–1899.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, S. S., Morris, M. W., Talhelm, T., & Yang, Q. (2019). Ingroup vigilance in collectivistic cultures. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(29), 14538–14546.

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Lockwood, P., & Kunda, Z. (1997). Superstars and me: Predicting the impact of role models on the self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73(1), 91–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luria, G., & Berson, Y. (2013). How do leadership motives affect informal and formal leadership emergence? Journal of Organizational Behavior, 34(7), 995–1015.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lynch, J. W., & Rodell, J. B. (2018). Blend in or stand out? Interpersonal outcomes of managing concealable stigmas at work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 103(12), 1307–1323.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Magee, J. C., & Galinsky, A. D. (2008). Social hierarchy: The self-reinforcing nature of power and status. The Academy of Management Annals, 2(1), 351–398.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Margolis, J. (2020). Multiple team membership: An integrative review. Small Group Research, 51(1), 48–86.

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Marion, R., Christiansen, J., Klar, H. W., Schreiber, C., & Erdener, M. A. (2016). Informal leadership, interaction, cliques and productive capacity in organizations: A collectivist analysis. The Leadership Quarterly, 27(2), 242–260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Menon, T., Thompson, L., & Choi, H. S. (2006). Tainted knowledge vs. tempting knowledge: People avoid knowledge from internal rivals and seek knowledge fromCant external rivals. Management Science, 52, 1129–1144.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morgeson, F. P., DeRue, D. S., & Karam, E. R. (2010). Leadership in teams: A Functional Approach to understanding Leadership structures and processes. Journal of Management, 36, 579–579.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Munyon, T. P., Summers, J. K., Thompson, K. M., & Ferris, G. R. (2015). Political skill and work outcomes: A theoretical extension, meta-analytic investigation, and agenda for the future. Personnel Psychology, 68(1), 143–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neubert, M. J. (1999). Too much of a good thing or the more the merrier? Exploring the dispersion and gender composition of informal leadership in manufacturing teams. Small Group Research, 30(5), 635–646.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pan, J., Liu, S., Ma, B., & Qu, Z. (2018). How does proactive personality promote creativity? A multilevel examination of the interplay between formal and informal leadership. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 91(4), 852–874.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peng, A. C., Schaubroeck, J. M., Kim, D., & Zeng, W. (2023). How is leadership maintained? A longitudinal mediation model linking informal leadership to upward voice through peer advice seeking. Journal of Applied Psychology, 108(5), 794–808.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Peng, K. Z., Chen, Z., Zhang, I. D., & Li, J. (2021). Unwilling to leave the good samaritans: How peer interpersonal-oriented citizenship behaviors retains me. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 38, 669–685.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pescosolido, A. T. (2001). Informal leaders and the development of group efficacy. Small Group Research, 32(1), 74–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pierce, J. R., & Aguinis, H. (2013). The too-much-of-a-good-thing effect in management. Journal of Management, 39(2), 313–338.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Porath, C. L., Gerbasi, A., & Schorch, S. L. (2015). The effects of civility on advice, leadership, and performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100(5), 1527–1541.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Priesemuth, M., & Bigelow, B. (2020). It hurts me too!(or not?): Exploring the negative implications for abusive bosses. Journal of Applied Psychology, 105(4), 410–421.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rabe-Hesketh, S., & Skrondal, A. (2008). Multilevel and Longitudinal Modeling Using Stata (2nd ed.). Stata Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Regts, G., & Molleman, E. (2013). To leave or not to leave: When receiving interpersonal citizenship behavior influences an employee’s turnover intention. Human Relations, 66(2), 193–218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reh, S., Tröster, C., & Van Quaquebeke, N. (2018). Keeping (future) rivals down: Temporal social comparison predicts coworker social undermining via future status threat and envy. Journal of Applied Psychology, 103(4), 399–415.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schneier, C. E., & Goktepe, J. R. (1983). Issues in emergent leadership: The contingency model of leadership, leader sex, leader behavior. Small Groups and Social Interaction, 1, 413–421.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaughnessy, B. A., Treadway, D. C., Breland, J. W., & Perrewé, P. L. (2017). Informal leadership status and individual performance: The roles of political skill and political will. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 24(1), 83–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shin, Y., Du, J., & Choi, J. N. (2015). Multi-level longitudinal dynamics between procedural justice and interpersonal helping in organizational teams. Journal of Business and Psychology, 30(3), 513–528.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sinha, R., Chiu, C. Y., & Srinivas, S. B. (2021). Shared leadership and relationship conflict in teams: The moderating role of team power base diversity. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 42(5), 649–667.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Souza, G. D., & Klein, H. J. (1995). Emergent leadership in the group goal-setting process. Small Group Research, 26(4), 475–496.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suls, J., & Wheeler, L. (2013). Handbook of social comparison: Theory and research. Springer Science and Business Media.

    Google Scholar 

  • Summers, J. K., Munyon, T. P., Brouer, R. L., Pahng, P., & Ferris, G. R. (2020). Political skill in the stressor-strain relationship: A meta-analytic update and extension. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 118, 103372.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sun, J., Li, W. D., Li, Y., Liden, R. C., Li, S., & Zhang, X. (2021). Unintended consequences of being proactive? Linking proactive personality to coworker envy, helping, and undermining, and the moderating role of prosocial motivation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 106(2), 250–267.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Swencionis, J. K., & Fiske, S. T. (2014). How social neuroscience can inform theories of social comparison. Neuropsychologia, 56, 140–146.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Tang, Y., Zhang, Y., & Ning, X. (2023). Uncertainty in the platform market: The information asymmetry perspective. Computers in Human Behavior, 148, 107918.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tangirala, S., & Ramanujam, R. (2008). Employee silence on critical work issues: The cross-level effects of procedural justice climate. Personnel Psychology, 61, 37–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Treadway, D. C., Ferris, G. R., Duke, A. B., Adams, G. L., & Thatcher, J. B. (2007). The moderating role of subordinate political skill on supervisors’ impressions of subordinate ingratiation and ratings of subordinate interpersonal facilitation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(3), 848–855.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tse, H. H., Lam, C. K., Lawrence, S. A., & Huang, X. (2013). When my supervisor dislikes you more than me: The effect of dissimilarity in leader–member exchange on coworkers’ interpersonal emotion and perceived help. Journal of Applied Psychology, 98(6), 974–988.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Van Bunderen, L., Greer, L. L., & Van Knippenberg, D. (2018). When interteam conflict spirals into intrateam power struggles: The pivotal role of team power structures. Academy of Management Journal, 61(3), 1100–1130.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van de Brake, H. J., van der Vegt, G. S., & Essens, P. J. (2023). More than just a number: Different conceptualizations of multiple team membership and their relationships with emotional exhaustion and turnover. Journal of Applied Psychology. Advance online publication.

  • Van der Vegt, G. S., Bunderson, J. S., & Oosterhof, A. (2006). Expertness diversity and interpersonal helping in teams: Why those who need the most help end up getting the least. Academy of Management Journal, 49(5), 877–893.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van der Vegt, G. S., De Jong, S. B., Bunderson, J. S., & Molleman, E. (2010). Power asymmetry and learning in teams: The moderating role of performance feedback. Organization Science, 21(2), 347–361.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Dijke, M., De Cremer, D., Langendijk, G., & Anderson, C. (2018). Ranking low, feeling high: How hierarchical position and experienced power promote prosocial behavior in response to procedural justice. Journal of Applied Psychology, 103(2), 164–181.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Van Dyne, L., & LePine, J. A. (1998). Helping and Voice Extra-role behaviors: Evidence of Construct and Predictive Validity. Academy of Management Journal, 41(1), 108–119.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vegt, G. S. V. D., & Bunderson, J. S. (2005). Learning and performance in multidisciplinary teams: The importance of collective team identification. Academy of Management Journal, 48, 532–547.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wellman, N., Newton, D. W., Wang, D., Wei, W., Waldman, D. A., & LePine, J. A. (2019). Meeting the need or falling in line? The effect of laissez-faire formal leaders on informal leadership. Personnel Psychology, 72(3), 337–359.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whiting, S. W., Podsakoff, P. M., & Pierce, J. R. (2008). Effects of task performance, helping, voice, and organizational loyalty on performance appraisal ratings. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(1), 125–139.

  • Williams, M. (2007). Building genuine trust through interpersonal emotion management: A threat regulation model of trust and collaboration across boundaries. Academy of Management Review, 32(2), 595–621.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wood, J. V. (1996). What is social comparison and how should we study it? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 520–537.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yu, L., Duffy, M. K., & Tepper, B. J. (2018). Consequences of downward envy: A model of self-esteem threat, abusive supervision, and supervisory leader self-improvement. Academy of Management Journal, 61(6), 2296–2318.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, C., Nahrgang, J. D., Ashford, S. J., & DeRue, D. S. (2020). The risky side of leadership: Conceptualizing risk perceptions in informal leadership and investigating the effects of their over-time changes in teams. Organization Science, 31(5), 1138–1158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, Z., Waldman, D. A., & Wang, Z. (2012). A multilevel investigation of leader–member exchange, informal leader emergence, and individual and team performance. Personnel Psychology, 65, 49–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou, Z. E., Yang, L. Q., & Spector, P. E. (2015). Political skill: A proactive inhibitor of workplace aggression exposure and an active buffer of the aggression-strain relationship. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 20(4), 405.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 72002038).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Management, Fudan University, Siyuan Building, No. 670, Guoshun Road, Yangpu District, Shanghai, 200433, China

    Shengming Liu & Jiayi Du

  2. School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University, No. 30, Shuangqing Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100084, China

    Ning Li

  3. Guanghua School of Management, Peking University, No. 5, Yiheyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100871, China

    Hui Wang

  4. School of Labor and Human Resources, Renmin University of China, No. 59, Zhongguancun Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100872, China

    Zhen Wang

Authors
  1. Shengming Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ning Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Hui Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Zhen Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Jiayi Du
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jiayi Du.

Ethics declarations

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose. All authors certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest or non-financial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript. The authors have no financial or proprietary interests in any material discussed in this article.

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Liu, S., Li, N., Wang, H. et al. Is an informal leader always popular? The curvilinear relationships between informal leadership, threat to peers, and helping from peers. Asia Pac J Manag (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-024-09949-1

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-024-09949-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation