Paternalistic Leadership and Surface Acting: The mediating role of Organizational Dehumanization

Paternalistic leadership (PL) is a unique style of leadership that can be viewed as an extension of China’s patriarchal traditions and Confucian ideals. It is based on a duality of authority and benevolence. In this study, we aim to explore the link between each of these two dimensions of paternalistic leadership, organizational dehumanization and emotional labor strategies (surface acting). Data from 204 surveys revealed that benevolent paternalistic leadership was negatively linked to organizational dehumanization and authoritarian paternalistic leadership was positively linked to organizational dehumanization. Furthermore, organizational dehumanization acts as a mediator between authoritarian paternalistic leadership and surface acting on one hand, and benevolent paternalistic leadership and surface acting on the other hand. Implications for these findings are further discussed.