Romantic and sexual connections within organizations are a common occurrence. Studies have shown that such connections can impact employee behavior, including their perception of leadership decisions. This research examines how these ties affect non-involved employees' views of leaders' legitimacy. Non-involved employees include those who do not engage in sexual or romantic relations with their supervisors but may observe them doing so. In this study, we conducted an experiment where participants read about fictional scenarios involving supervisor-subordinate pairs engaged in sexual relationships and then completed surveys assessing their perceptions of the leader's decision-making abilities. We found that non-involved employees perceived leaders to be less competent when they observed sexual activity between their bosses and subordinates.
The question is: Does observing supervisor-subordinate relationships influence perceptions of leadership? To investigate this issue, we conducted a study with 200 individuals recruited online. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: no relationship, sexual relationship, or romantic relationship. Each participant read two short stories about a male manager and female subordinate. In the control condition, both characters remained platonic friends. In the other conditions, the pair was involved in a sexual or romantic relationship. After reading each story, participants completed a survey measuring their perceptions of the manager's effectiveness.
Results showed that non-involved employees viewed leaders more favorably when they did not observe any type of intimate connection.
Participants who witnessed sexual activity between their boss and a subordinate rated the leader as significantly less effective than those who saw no relationship at all. This suggests that non-involved employees find it difficult to separate personal feelings from work responsibilities. The data also indicated that participants who identified as heterosexual tended to view leaders more positively when they engaged in sexual relations with members of the opposite sex, while LGBTQ+ individuals felt no difference regardless of the type of relationship displayed. These results suggest that gender and sexual orientation may play a role in how employees interpret leadership decisions made within hierarchical structures involving romantic or sexual connections.
How does the formation of romantic or sexual connections within hierarchies influence the perceived legitimacy of leadership decisions among non-involved employees?
The formation of romantic or sexual connections within hierarchies can have various effects on the perceived legitimacy of leadership decisions among non-involved employees. When an employee is involved in a relationship with their superior or subordinate, they may feel pressured to conform to certain behaviors that could impact their judgments about work matters.