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As the literature reveals an ongoing debate on the lack of agreement for a comprehensive conceptualization and definition of destructive leadership, the measurement of the construct is still problematic. Therefore, this chapter aims to review and summarize the current ways of measuring destructive leadership. A systematic review was conducted to examine the destructive leadership instruments. This chapter covers both qualitative and quantitative instruments in assessing destructive leadership and provides a brief overview of the scale development of the instruments. In addition to destructive leadership scales, commonly used harmful leadership scales such as abusive, tyrannical and toxic scales were also included for comparison purposes.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a short and easy to use yet psychometrically sound instrument designed to measure destructive leadership behaviours in a military context.

First, examples of destructive leadership behaviours in a military context were collected using a qualitative approach. Second, these examples were operationalised and pilot tested, which resulted in a 20‐item questionnaire called Destrudo‐L. Third, data were collected from three Swedish military groups (n=428). Dimensionality of the instrument was analysed using structural equation modelling. Conventional psychometric assessments of reliability and validity were performed.

A nested hierarchical model with a general factor and the following specific factors emerged: arrogant, unfair; threats, punishments, overdemands; ego‐oriented, false; passive, cowardly; and uncertain, unclear, messy. Meaningful subgroup differences and relationships with a criterion variable (lack of motivation/propensity to leave) were found. More use of active forms was reported by subordinates of younger military commanders and more use of passive forms was marked by subordinates of senior military managers.

The instrument is easy to administer and interpret (norm values are provided) and can be used in leader evaluation, as well as leader development, contexts.

The main contribution is methodological – the development of a new scale. Additional findings are a strong positive correlation between active and passive forms of destructive leadership behaviours in a military context, as well as significant differences between groups with different ranks.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate if the thesis “bad is stronger than good” also holds true for a number of leadership issues, more specifically: trust in the immediate leader, emotional exhaustion, work atmosphere and propensity to leave.

Questionnaire responses were obtained from military personnel in Estonia, Sweden, Switzerland and the Netherlands (n=625).

Multiple regression analyses revealed a certain pattern. Constructive leadership behaviours showed stronger positive associations with trust in the immediate supervisor and work atmosphere, than destructive leadership behaviours showed negative associations. On the other hand, destructive leadership behaviours showed stronger positive associations with emotional exhaustion and propensity to leave, than constructive leadership behaviours showed negative associations. This suggests that constructive leadership behaviours possibly have a greater impact on positive phenomenon and/or phenomenon associated with work-related relationships. On the other hand, destructive leadership behaviours appear to have a greater impact on negative phenomena with a stronger personal meaning. The results also show that the passive forms of destructive leadership are the behaviours that had the strongest impact on the investigated dependent variables.

Limitations related to item construction, common method variance, response set tendencies, translation of the instruments, and lack of response rate are discussed.

The results emphasize the importance of focusing on both constructive and destructive leadership at the selection stage, as well as during training of military leaders. Focusing on them separately obstructs optimal leader development and prevents leaders from gaining authentic self-knowledge. The results also point at the importance of including both aspects of leadership in leader evaluation processes.

The use of both constructive and destructive leadership behaviours with respondents from multiple nations in the same analysis.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the fundamental content and structure of destructive leadership within the Chinese cultural context, through surveys of employees in Chinese organizations.

Methodologies such as documentary analysis, interview and survey were used in the study, and surveys were conducted on over 1,300 employees from Beijing, Shanghai and other cities in Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces. Then the content and structure of destructive leadership perceived by Chinese employees were examined using multiple statistical techniques including EFA (exploratory factor analysis) and CFA (confirmatory factor analysis).

The results of the survey showed that destructive leadership in Chinese organizations consists of four factors: corruption, excoriation of subordinates, abuse of subordinates and the loss of professional morality. The authors then compared the structure with relevant Western research findings and revealed their similarities and differences.

The structure of Chinese destructive leadership not only reflects the characteristics of Chinese culture, but also reflects the characteristics of current Chinese organizational management, which have practical implications for identifying management problems in Chinese organizations and improving workplace leadership behavior.

This is the first paper of its kind in mainland China to empirically explore the theoretical model of destructive leadership within the context of Chinese culture, which will facilitate future research by offering a theoretical basis and research instrument.

This study aims to investigate the differences between destructive leadership in two different contexts: crisis management and usual circumstances. The specific research questions are as follows: What is the relationship between destructive leadership behaviours in usual circumstances and destructive leadership behaviours in crisis management? Are destructive leadership behaviours in usual circumstances or in crisis management the best predictors of trust in the leader and subordinate performance?

Questionnaire responses were obtained from 337 individuals who had experience from handling various societal crises, such as terror attacks and forest fires. The respondents represented four different organisations: municipalities, county administrative boards, the police and the emergency service.

The results from the study reveal that there is a strong association between destructive leadership in usual circumstances and destructive leadership during crisis management. The study indicates that everyday leadership matters the most. It is above all behaviours in usual circumstances that show the strongest associations with trust in the leader and subordinate performance. The results also show that it is especially task-related, passive forms of destructive leadership behaviours that show the strongest association with the studied outcome variables.

Limitations related to measurements and self-reported data are discussed.

The study emphasises the importance of paying attention to leaders’ task- and strategic-oriented behaviour as well as the importance of building trusting relationships with the subordinates.

The need for industry-specific studies of destructive leadership has been highlighted and this study contributes with knowledge from the crisis management context.

The purpose of this paper is to discern whether upward influence behavior, with its antecedents such as organizational culture and leadership, can cultivate organizational trust, with particular reference to manufacturing companies in the plastics industry in Vietnam.

Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used for the analysis of 418 responses returned from self‐administered structured questionnaires sent to 655 middle level managers.

From the findings emerged the linkage pattern of knowledge‐based trust or identity‐based trust and organizationally beneficial upward influence behavior. Ad hocracy, market, and clan cultures and transformational leadership were found to cultivate organizationally‐beneficial upward influence strategies, which in turn cultivate knowledge‐based or identity‐based trust.

The paper discerns the interplay between culture and leadership on the upward influence behaviors, which in turn influence organizational trust. The paper's findings provide insight into the interplay pattern of trust and its antecedents and underscore the magnitude of ad hocracy, market, and clan culture types, as well as transformational leadership style in the building of organizationally‐beneficial upward influence strategies in plastic manufacturing companies in the Vietnam business setting.

The literature on destructive leadership has largely ignored the perspective of the subordinate, especially in terms of conflict coping mechanisms. This study aims to integrate research on destructive leadership and subordinates’ voice behaviour as a conflict coping mechanism. Drawing on the social exchange, conservation of resources and social identity theories, it argues that destructive leadership negatively affects employees’ voice behaviour and that this relationship is moderated by subordinate personality and organization climate.

The proposed model was tested on a sample of 275 professionals working in the banking and insurance sector in India using a temporal research design with data collected in two phases six months apart. Partial least squares structural equation modelling was used for data analysis.

The results support the main effect relationship between destructive leadership and subordinates’ voice behaviour and the moderation of subordinates’ personality and organizational climate. Temporal analysis indicates that the nature of some relationships changed across the two time periods.

A greater understanding of destructive leader behaviour and resultant coping strategies of subordinates is likely to provide insights for managers facing such situations. The findings of this study will inform the creation of redressal and voice mechanisms in organizations.

This is among the first studies to examine the impact of negative forms of leadership on subordinates’ conflict coping mechanisms using a temporal lag design across two time periods.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of psychological contract breach on destructive by developing a moderated mediation model. The model focuses on the mediating role of moral identity and moral disengagement and the moderating role of moral belief.

This study conducted a three-wave questionnaire survey and used 377 matched-sample data to test the hypotheses. PROCESS bootstrapping program in SPSS and confirmatory factor analysis in AMOS software were adopted in this study.

Results reveal that psychological contract breach has a positive effect on destructive leadership behavior, and the relationship is mediated by moral identity and moral disengagement; moral belief not only moderates the relationship between psychological contract breach and destructive leadership behavior, but also moderates the mediation effect of moral identity and moral disengagement.

First, this study enriches the destructive leadership behavior literature by verifying psychological contract breach as an antecedent. Second, this study discusses the role of morality in the formation mechanism of destructive leadership behavior by testing the mediating effect of moral identity and moral disengagement and the moderating effect of moral belief.

This inquest into consumer goods companies in Vietnam aims to examine if leadership influences corporate social responsibility (CSR) and emotional intelligence (EI), which in turn influences upward influence behavior. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Structural equation modeling approach contributed to the analysis of 406 responses returned from self-administered structured questionnaires sent to 690 middle level managers.

From the findings emerged a model of upward influence behavior and its antecedents such as leadership, CSR, and EI. Transformational leadership, ethical CSR, and high level of EI were found to nurture organizationally beneficial upward influence tactics.

Through the findings of the study, the insight into the leadership-based model of upward influence behavior underscores the role of transformational leadership style, ethical CSR, as well as team EI in the cultivation of organizationally beneficial upward influence tactics in consumer goods companies in Vietnam business context.

Although the background on positive and supportive leadership styles and their positive effects is constantly increasing, it is known that negative and destructive leadership styles are less researched. Thus, examining the toxic leadership behaviors of nurse managers and the effects of these on nurses has a critical significance. When the measurement tools evaluating toxic leadership are examined, it is seen that there is a need for measurement tools that evaluate the toxic leadership behaviors of nurse managers. This study's purpose is to psychometrically examine the Turkish version of the Toxic Leadership Behaviors of Nurse Managers (ToxBH-NM-TR) Scale and test the hypothesized conceptual model that includes the relationships between toxic leadership, mental well-being and work engagement.

This quantitative research was carried out in psychometric, correlational and cross-sectional design. A total of 559 nurses were included in the study by using the convenience sample method. The ToxBH-NM-TR Scale, Warwick–Edinburg Mental Well-Being Scale and Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) were used to measure the latent variables of the study. The data were collected between June and October 2020 with the online survey method. IBM SPSS Statistics 24 and Amos 21 statistical programs were used to analyze the data.

The scale-content validity index of the ToxBH-NM-TR was 0.88. Confirmatory factor analysis results showed that the fit indices were acceptable. The ToxBH-NM-TR had high internal consistency and temporal stability. In addition, the relationships between the latent variables of the study were in the expected direction and statistically significant (p < 0.001). The hypothesized conceptual model showed an acceptable or good fit to the data. Mental well-being partially mediated the relationship between toxic leadership and work engagement. The study showed that the ToxBH-NM-TR is a valid and reliable instrument and provided evidence that confirmed the hypothesized conceptual model.

The first of these is the fact that managers' toxic leadership behaviors were determined based on nurses' self-report. For this reason, participants' potential prejudices may have affected the results of the study. The second limitation concerns the data collection technique. Using face-to-face data collection techniques during the COVID-19 pandemic could create a danger/risk for the health of nurses, researchers and patients. Therefore, the nurses in this research were reached through an online survey on social media platforms. The participants of the study were limited to those who had access to social media. Finally, some socio-demographic and professional characteristics of the participants may be a confounding variable for the model. For this reason, this conceptual model needs to be validated on other samples in different countries to increase the generalizability of the research results.

The characteristics of this leadership style should be understood, and its effects on employees and organizations should be evaluated by screening regularly to prevent the development of toxic leaders and to eliminate the harmful effects of their behavior. The nurses should respond decisively to the forces that cause them to submit in order not to encourage a toxic leadership style. Healthcare institutions should develop procedures and take a proactive approach to destructive and negative leadership behaviors and practices. In addition, nurse managers should get feedback by using informal networks and 360-degree assessment tools and evaluate whether their leadership has a toxic function by regularly screening the effects of their leadership.

The results of this study offer important implications for nurses, managers and healthcare institutions and can be useful in gaining awareness about the negative effects of a toxic leadership style. In addition, the study provides a valid and reliable scale that will enable the identification of managers with this leadership style to prevent the development of toxic leaders and eliminate the harmful effects of their behavior.