Decent Aggressor - Research

Decency and high moral principles of leadership often complicate the life of subordinates, because the boss sometimes becomes irritable and even aggressive, psychologists at Michigan State University concluded.

As part of the study, scientists analyzed the daily work of 172 leaders - businessmen, industrialists, officials, civil servants (including in the field of health and education). For several days, experts constantly recorded all the behavioral and emotional characteristics of the bosses, their actions and reactions after specific events. The subjects were also asked to regularly fill out special questionnaires, reflecting their attitude to certain events and their role in them.

As a result, psychologists have noted an important pattern. If at some point the leaders had to act “right” to the detriment of their interests, that is, in accordance with high ethical principles, in the following days they often allowed themselves emotional breakdowns and even aggressive behavior: ridicule, insult, reminders of past mistakes and mistakes … On the other hand, bosses, oriented toward personal gain and “only work” (“nothing personal”), while following their own line, could have acted less morally cleanly, but they were more loyal to the employees.

Scientists attribute this to the fact that these days, decent behavior leads to a large additional psychological stress, and this, in turn, to real emotional exhaustion. This mental fatigue, coupled with the phenomenon of "moral law" (moral licensing - justifying excessive criticality by their conditional superiority after a good deed), in a number of situations makes decent leaders real aggressors if their subordinates do not meet his high moral standards.

Thus, we understand that the conventional belief that ethical bosses always develop a warm and comfortable attitude in a team is not so true. Moreover, psychologists advise highly moral bosses to be more careful with their emotions and their body. Physical activity at work, the ability to rest, proper nutrition, disconnecting the mobile phone outside of working hours, etc. will help.

However, it will not be superfluous, for example, to introduce some moral and ethical imperatives directly into the internal corporate culture, so that “correct” behavior is a consequence of adherence to general rules. In this case, the authorities will have no reason to apply "moral law", therefore, there will be no emotional breakdowns.