The relationship between ambivalence towards supervisor's behavior and employee’s mental health

Herr RM, Birmingham WC, Van Harreveld F, Van Vianen AEM, Fischer JE, Bosch JA (2022)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2022

Journal

Scientific Reports Nature Publishing Group: Open Access Journals - Option B

Book Volume: 12

Article Number: 9555

Journal Issue: 1

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-13533-2

Abstract

Ambivalence in social interactions has been linked to health-related outcomes in private relationships and recent research has started to expand this evidence to ambivalent leadership at the workplace by showing that ambivalent supervisor-employee relationships are related to higher stress levels in employees. However, the mental health consequences of ambivalent leadership have not been examined yet. Using a multilevel approach, this study estimated associations of ambivalent leadership with mental health indicators (depression, anxiety, vital exhaustion, fatigue) in 993 employees from 27 work groups. A total effect of ambivalent leadership was found for all four mental health measures, as well as within-group and between-group effects. The consistent relationships of ambivalent leadership with higher symptoms of mental ill-health at the individual- (i.e., within-group) and the group-level (i.e., between-group) support the existence of an un-confounded association, as well as group effects of collective ambivalence.

Authors with CRIS profile

Raphael Herr

Involved external institutions

Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg DE Germany (DE) Brigham Young University US United States (USA) (US) University of Amsterdam NL Netherlands (NL)

How to cite

APA:

Herr, R.M., Birmingham, W.C., Van Harreveld, F., Van Vianen, A.E.M., Fischer, J.E., & Bosch, J.A. (2022). The relationship between ambivalence towards supervisor's behavior and employee’s mental health. Scientific Reports, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-13533-2

MLA:

Herr, Raphael M., et al. "The relationship between ambivalence towards supervisor's behavior and employee’s mental health." Scientific Reports 12.1 (2022).

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