Crossover Of Work Passion Within Leader-follower Dyads

Passion is a core characteristic of exemplary employees with implications for better performance and positive work behaviors.Researchers,organizations,and leaders continuously face the challenge of creating an environment that is motivating and ignites a sense of passion for employees,Various positive outcomes of having passion have been investigated,yet the research on the determinants of passion is still in its nascent stage.In light of the important role that passion plays in a variety of work outcomes,the question of how to ignite passion in the employees becomes an essential research question.This research aims at exploring the scholarship of interpersonal relations particularly leader-follower dyads and how the interactions and relationship quality of the members can influence the level of work passion that develops in employees,This research fundamentally builds its framework on the theory of crossover.Crossover implies the effect of an individual's level of psychological well-being on that of another within a particular domain.Crossover is a complex,interchangeable,and multifaceted process,which originates at the individual level.Through mechanisms of direct crossover,indirect crossover,and shared stressors experiences,emotions,and resources are transferred from one person to another within the home or work environments.We explored the limited but growing body of research on positive crossover;wherein we investigated the direct and indirect crossover of work passion between the dyadic setting of leader and followers.The research comprises of two independent studies(Study 1(A,B),Study 2),which examined a crossover of work passion within a leader-follower dyad.In Study 1A(B),it was hypothesized that the leader's(follower's)work passion influences follower's(leader's)work passion through direct crossover phenomena(i.e.,crossover via empathy).The underlying indirect crossover mechanism of a leader's(follower's)work passion via personal identification—the process by which individuals[supervisors and subordinates]realize cognitive overlap between the self and other over time in a relationship was also examined.In an attempt to fully understand the crossover of a leader's(follower's)work passion,the pattern of leader-follower relationship quality,which can moderate the direct and indirect crossover of work passion from leader to follower and vice versa was scrutinized.Two independent studies were conducted in this regard.In Study 1(A),time-lagged data was collected from the dyadic settings of a large trade multinational company(N=77 supervisor and 373 subordinates)situated in Anhui province of China.The aim of Study 1(A)was to test the proposed moderated mediation model from leader to followers.The sample of Study 1(B)was collected from a large manufacturing multinational company(N=89 supervisor and 411 subordinates)also situated in Anhui province of China.The data from these studies were utilized to test the proposed moderated mediation model of work passion.All the hypothesized relationships were supported and the results provide support for the notion of direct and indirect crossover of work passion within leader-follower dyads.Furthermore,the results also support the moderated mediation model of direct and indifrect crossover of work passion.The purpose of Study 2 was to examine how and when passionate leaders can instigate work passion in their followers and examine the strength of the relationship in a cross-cultural setting.In this regard,the construct of relational energy was introduced as a social interaction mediator that can facilitate the crossover of work passion from leader to followers.Additionally,culture as a moderator was introduced in this model.Culture plays an eminent role in the dynamics of interpersonal relations within a leader-follower dyad,hence it was a relevant boundary condition of the work passion crossover.The study focused on two distinct cultures Anglo culture,e.g.,Canada vs.Confucian Asian culture,e.g.,China,as the power distance orientations greatly differ in such culture,thereby can influence the social structure as well as the pattern of interactions.Two-wave data was collected from MBA students of two Confucian Asian countries(China and Singapore,120 responses)and two Anglo countries(Canada and Australia,265 responses)to test the moderated mediation model.The results show that interactions with passionate leaders can generate relational energy in followers and subsequently lead to followers' passion for work.Furthermore,the results shed light on the moderating effect of culture,such that the leader-follower work passion relationship via follower relational energy was stronger for followers from Anglo culture than the followers from Confucian Asian culture.Limitations of the study and directions for future research are discussed.Overall,this research provides a potential way to stimulate work passion in employees(leaders and followers)through the process of crossover.Two important boundary conditions were formulized that provide important theoretical and practical implications.These boundary conditions were the relationship quality between a leader and follower and the cultural setting of the individuals.By testing the model in two distinct cultural settings allows an increment in the generalizability of the work passion crossover frameworks.The research concludes with implications for theory,research,and practice with prospective future research topics.