I won't let you down! Transformational leadership, anticipated guilt of failure, and follower extra work effort

Abstract

Transformational leadership research has predominantly assumed that followers are motivated to work hard under a transformational leader due to the pleasant social and personal experiences they derive from the leader. Challenging and complementing this view, we adopt a self-discrepancy perspective to propose anticipated guilt of failure, a psychological discomfort arising from concerns about failing to fulfil one's obligations, as a novel explanatory mechanism. We argue that transformational leadership will induce followers to anticipate feelings of guilt over potential failures in meeting their leaders' expectations, thereby motivating them to exert extra effort at work, particularly in uncertain work environments. Across four studies, including two field surveys and two experiments (total N = 1166), we consistently find that anticipated guilt of failure, as an unpleasant and prevention-focused motivational state, mediates the positive effect of transformational leadership on followers' extra work effort, even after accounting for previously established pleasant, promotion-focused mediators. Moreover, perceived work uncertainty strengthens this new mediation process by amplifying the effect of transformational leadership on anticipated guilt of failure. Our research uncovers an unintended psychological cost that transformational leadership likely imposes on followers in motivating their work effort, offering new insights into how transformational leaders motivate and impact followers.