Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

7-2025

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, Social undermining, Supervisor support

Discipline

Organizational Behavior and Theory

Research Areas

Organisational Behaviour and Human Resources

Publication

Journal of Applied Psychology

Volume

110

Issue

7

ISSN

0021-9010

Identifier

10.1037/apl0001265

Publisher

American Psychological Association

Download

Share

COinS