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Destructive leadership behaviors are common and have clear negative consequences for individuals and organizations, making it essential to better understand how to effectively prevent such behaviors. The focus for the present doctoral thesis was to investigate destructive leadership from a gender perspective, aiming to deepen our understanding of how gender dynamics and organizational structures influence the emergence and consequences of such damaging actions. In this thesis, gender is defined as a continuous social process shaped by interactions with others and the surrounding environment. Three empirical studies were conducted, combining gendered organization theory and conservation of resources (COR) theory, to examine both antecedents and outcomes of destructive leadership behaviors. The first two uses quantitative data with samples drawn from the Swedish working life population. Results from Study 1 showed that leader gender did not moderate the relation between employee-perceived destructive leadership behaviors and employee outcomes (job satisfaction, burnout, work performance, and turnover intention). However, gender match between leader and employee strengthens the relation between destructive leadership and turnover intention, which suggests that experiencing destructive leadership behaviors from a leader of the same gender may heighten feelings of betrayal and dissatisfaction. In Study 2, the results showed that leaders’ perceptions of low team motivation predicted both active and passive destructive leadership behaviors. Furthermore, leader gender moderated this relation, such that male leaders were more likely than female leaders to respond to low motivation with active destructive behaviors. This finding suggests that societal norms associating masculinity with leadership may exacerbate stress responses and destructive leadership behavior, highlighting the reciprocal nature of leadership where employee behavior and leader identity interact and contribute to destructive leadership behaviors. In study 3, relations between gendered organizational structures (i.e., geographic dispersion, proportion of unqualified employees, employee sick leave, and span of control) and employee-perceived passive destructive leadership behaviors and leaders’ self-reported stress were examined. Results showed that a larger span of control predicted perceptions of more passive leadership behaviors, and that higher employee sick leave rates are linked to greater leader stress. Interestingly, high sick leave rates were related to lower employee perceptions of passive leadership. These two structures are gendered, meaning they impact leaders unequally and contribute to different working conditions. The results indicate complex interactions between structural factors, stress, and leadership behaviors. Collectively, these studies demonstrate that destructive leadership is a multifaceted, context-dependent phenomenon shaped by gender, leader identity, employee behavior, and organizational structures. The results presented in this thesis challenges leader-centric approaches in destructive leadership research by combining gendered organization theory with COR theory, contributing with new perspectives for understanding how stress, power dynamics, and resource inequalities contribute to destructive leadership behaviors. Practically, the findings underscore the importance of addressing both individual and structural antecedents through leadership development that consider gender norms and identity threats, as well as policies promoting equitable working conditions and leader support systems. In conclusion, in this thesis I situate destructive leadership within a gendered and organizational context, demonstrating how leader identity, employee dynamics, and structural factors jointly shape destructive leadership. Drawing on the findings from the three studies, I recommend that future research incorporates contextual and intersectional perspectives to advance research on destructive leadership, while also promoting healthy leadership and fostering inclusive workplaces.

Background: Destructive leadership has been linked to negative consequences for both organizations and followers. Research has also shown that leader gender affects follower perceptions of leadership behavior and follower outcomes [1,2,3]. However, knowledge is limited as to whether this also applies to destructive leadership [4]. This study aims to combine gendered organization theory with destructive leadership research to investigate the role that gender plays in the relation between destructive leadership behavior and follower outcomes.

Methods: The data were collected in collaboration with Statistic Sweden. It is a representative sample from the working population in Sweden. We used a two-wave survey design and included 1,121 participants in the analysis.

Results: The results from structural equation models indicated that destructive leadership has negative consequences for follower burnout, job satisfaction, and turnover intention 6 months later. The results also showed that followers reported a greater intention to leave the organization if the leader was the same gender and used destructive leadership.

Conclusions: Our study contributes to destructive leadership research by showing that the gender of both the leader and follower matters for the relation between destructive leadership behavior and follower outcomes. Additionally, our study makes a theoretical contribution by integrating a gender research perspective into destructive leadership research.

Destructive leadership does not occur in a vacuum; rather, these behaviors are part of a social process in which leader and follower interact and influence each other. Still, knowledge regarding followers’ behaviors as antecedents to destructive leadership behavior is limited, even more so from a gender perspective. In this study, we investigate the relationship between perceived lack of team motivation and destructive leadership behavior, with the leader’s gender as a moderator. Together with Statistic Sweden, we collected data using a two-wave survey design. We included 784 participants in the analysis, using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results showed that perceived lack of team motivation was associated with active and passive destructive leadership behaviors. Beyond that, the leader’s gender moderated the relationship between leaders’ perception of team amotivation and active destructive leadership. The results show that male leaders are more prone to act destructively when they perceive a lack of team motivation. These results suggest that male leaders may be more susceptible to engaging in destructive leadership behaviors due to identity threat than female leaders. Therefore, we examine how the construction of gender and identity and the close association between masculinity and leader identity contribute to the risk of engaging in destructive leadership behavior.