Follower need for cognitive closure as moderator of the effectiveness of leader procedural fairness |
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| Authors: | Antonio Pierro Mauro Giacomantonio Arie W Kruglanski Daan van Knippenberg |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Social and Developmental Psychology , University of Rome, “La Sapienza” , Rome , Italy antonio.pierro@uniroma1.it;3. Department of Social and Developmental Psychology , University of Rome, “La Sapienza” , Rome , Italy;4. Department of Psychology , University of Maryland, College Park , MD , USA;5. Rotterdam School of Management , Erasmus University Rotterdam , Rotterdam , The Netherlands |
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| Abstract: | Leader procedural fairness is an important factor in leadership effectiveness, but the study of the contingencies of its influence is still in its infancy. Addressing this issue we focus on the moderating role of follower need for cognitive closure, the disposition to reduce uncertainty and swiftly reach closure in judgement and decision. We propose that need for closure captures followers sensitivity to the uncertainty-reducing influence of leader procedural fairness. Across three studies designed to yield complementary evidence (two surveys and a scenario experiment), we find support for the hypothesis that perceived leader procedural fairness has a stronger (positive) relationship with leadership effectiveness for followers higher in need for closure. This support is found across a variety of indicators reflecting different aspects of leadership effectiveness: effort and performance, social identification, job satisfaction, and leader evaluations. We discuss how these findings advance our understanding of the uncertainty-reducing role of leader fairness. |
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| Keywords: | Leader fairness Leadership Need for cognitive closure Procedural justice Uncertainty |
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