The dynamic relationship between laissez-faire leadership and day-level stress: A role theory perspective

Previous research on laissez-faire leadership and stress has focused on between-person differences by looking at general ratings of leader behaviours. Yet, researchers have demonstrated a high situational contingency of leadership behaviours that call for a more detailed analysis of within-person differences. We adopt a role theory perspective to explain why daily laissez-faire leadership is linked to daily stress of followers. Also drawing on role theory, we further explain fluctuations of supervisors’ laissez-faire leadership behaviour over time in relation to follower perceptions of day-specific stress. Finally, we also take followers’ level of neuroticism into perspective to describe when followers are particularly vulnerable to laissez-faire leadership. We conducted a diary study spanning over 5 days within 1 working week to test whether daily laissez-faire leadership and its variability were positively related to followers’ daily stress and whether these relations were moderated by follower neuroticism. A total of 201 participants completed the diary surveys (M = 4.79 days × 201 participants = 963 data points) and provided information in an initial survey. Results gave support for most of our hypotheses and showed a positive relationship between daily laissez-faire leadership and daily stress as well as a positive relationship between laissez-faire leadership variability and daily stress. Neuroticism moderated the positive relationship between laissez-faire leadership variability and daily stress in the way that the relationship between laissez-faire leadership variability and daily stress was stronger for individuals with high neuroticism.