To advance research on how leaders influence followers and organizational performance, we proposed and tested a multilevel mediation model whereby authentic leaders influence follower fairness perceptions and create a fair climate, which in turn relates to subordinate well-being, turnover intention, and organizational commitment. Survey data from 187 employees, clustered under 37 leaders, were tested using a multilevel structural equation modeling approach. Results show that authentic leaders relate to follower outcomes in part through directly relating to subordinates' perceptions of justice and justice climate. Implications include development of authentic leadership as an actionable strategy for bolstering followers' well-being and performance.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine organizational identification as an underlying mechanism for how perceptions of interpersonal leadership are related to employee engagement, and its relationship with commitment and job tension. Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 451 full-time employees at an international firm completed a web-based survey. Findings – Organizational identification mediated the relationship between perceived interpersonal leadership and engagement, which mediated the relationship between perceived interpersonal leadership and commitment. Engagement mediated the relationship between identification and job tension. Research limitations/implications – Limitations include cross-sectional data. Strengths include a large field sample. Implication is that leaders who encourage employees’ identification with the organization may also encourage their engagement. Practical implications – Interpersonal leadership characteristics can be developed, and are positively related to employees’ identification, commitment, and engagement, which are negatively related to job tension. Social implications – Interpersonal leaders are positively associated with employees’ engagement; high engagement has been related to positive employee health and well-being. A healthy workforce translates into a healthy society. Originality/value – This study is one of the few to examine the underlying mechanisms through which leadership relates to engagement.

Even though reward systems play a central role in the management of organizations, their impact on stress and the well-being of workers is not well understood. We review the literature linking performance-based reward systems to various indicators of employee stress and well-being. Well-controlled experiments in field settings suggest that certain types of performance-based reward systems, such as piece rate pay, cause increases in psychological and physiological stress. Such findings are mirrored in nonexperimental studies as well, but the causal mechanisms for such effects are not well understood. We argue that reward systems generally deserve much more attention in the work stress literature, and identify several mediating and moderating variables worthy of study.

The leadership capacity of resident assistants can be impacted by many experiences, including involvement in mentoring relationships. The purpose of this study was to examine if and how resident assistants' leadership capacities are influenced by participating in mentoring relationships. Additionally, mentor-protégé race and gender pairings were explored. An adapted version of Astin's Inputs-Environments-Outcomes college impact model was used as the conceptual framework; the Social Change Model of Leadership was used as the theoretical framework. Overall findings included that resident assistants with a race match or gender match did not exhibit significantly higher leadership capacities than those who did not. I also included implications for practice and future recommendations.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine gender differences in personality predictors of a specific form of workplace aggression: counterproductive work behaviors directed at individuals (CWB‐I).Design/methodology/approachStudents (n=212) who were part‐time employees working at least 15 hours per week completed a measure of the five‐factor model (FFM) personality traits and two circumplex personality traits (Calmnesss and Pleasantness), as well as a measure of CWB‐I. Hierarchical regressions and tests of mean differences were used to examine hypotheses pertaining to gender differences in personality predictors of interpersonal aggression.FindingsResults generally supported the hypotheses as shown by the significant interactions between gender and personality traits in predicting CWB‐I. Agreeableness and Pleasantness significantly (negatively) predicted CWB‐I among males, but not females. Emotional Stability significantly (negatively) predicted CWB‐I among females, but not males.Research limitations/implicationsThe use of self‐report surveys may impact the results of this study. However, as this is the first study to explore the complex interactions between gender and personality in predicting workplace aggression, it is hoped that future research tests these relationships with alternate samples and methodologies.Practical implicationsThe results show that personality traits predict interpersonal workplace aggression differentially for males and females. Results also show that circumplex intersection traits are a useful supplement to the FFM traits in explaining interpersonal aggression in the workplace.Originality/valueTo the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to show that personality traits differentially predict interpersonal aggression for males and females; and to demonstrate the incremental validity of circumplex traits over FFM traits in predicting interpersonal aggression.