Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
acceptedVersion
Publication Date
1-2025
Abstract
Leaders, often perceived as possessing exceptional confidence and competence, are not immune to feelings of self-doubt. Leader impostorism describes the experience that one’s attributes, experiences, skills, and abilities fall short of the standards expected in the leadership role, resulting in a sense of deception in fulfilling leadership responsibilities. While existing research has examined the antecedents and individual outcomes of leader impostorism, its implications for leaders’ treatment of subordinates remain largely unexplored. In this research, we investigate the downstream consequences of leader impostorism on behaviors directed toward subordinates. Integrating research on leader impostorism with power dependence theory, we propose that for leaders with a low power distance orientation, leader impostorism increases supervisor support through the mechanism of perceived power dependence on subordinates, whereas for leaders with a high power distance orientation, leader impostorism increases supervisor undermining through the mechanism of power threat. The findings from two field studies support our theoretical model. This research contributes to the literature by broadening the understanding of the impact of leader impostorism on subordinates, extending power dependence theory within leader–subordinate dynamics, and offering insights into the dual nature of impostorism and its contingent effects.
Keywords
leader impostorism, power dependence theory, power distance orientation, supervisor support, social undermining
Discipline
Leadership Studies | Organizational Behavior and Theory
Research Areas
Organisational Behaviour and Human Resources
Publication
Journal of Applied Psychology
First Page
1
Last Page
16
ISSN
0021-9010
Identifier
10.1037/apl0001265
Publisher
American Psychological Association
Embargo Period
4-2-2025
Citation
WEN, Xueqi; LIU, Zihan; QIU, Feng; LEAVITT, Keith; WANG, Xingyu; and TANG, Ziyang.
A power dependence model of the impact of leader impostorism on supervisor support and undermining: The moderating role of power distance. (2025). Journal of Applied Psychology. 1-16.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/7694
Copyright Owner and License
Authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0001265