A1 Journal article (refereed)
“No Worries, there is No Error-Free Leadership!” : Error Strain, Worries about Leadership, and Leadership Career Intentions among Non-Leaders (2022)


Auvinen, E., Aycan, Z., Tsupari, H., Herttalampi, M., & Feldt, T. (2022). “No Worries, there is No Error-Free Leadership!” : Error Strain, Worries about Leadership, and Leadership Career Intentions among Non-Leaders. Scandinavian Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 7(1), Article 6. https://doi.org/10.16993/sjwop.166


JYU authors or editors


Publication details

All authors or editorsAuvinen, Elina; Aycan, Zeynep; Tsupari, Heidi; Herttalampi, Mari; Feldt, Taru

Journal or seriesScandinavian Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology

eISSN2002-2867

Publication year2022

Volume7

Issue number1

Article number6

PublisherStockholm University Press

Publication countrySweden

Publication languageEnglish

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.16993/sjwop.166

Publication open accessOpenly available

Publication channel open accessOpen Access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX)https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/81806


Abstract

The growing body of research suggests that leadership is not among the most attractive career goals, especially for the younger work force. However, the need for leadership has not diminished. To shed light on the “problem of supply”, this study addresses the question of why high-potential individuals (i.e., non-leaders) do not pursue leadership positions by focusing on worries about leadership (WAL) and error-related strain. We had two aims: (1) to identify different profiles of WAL among highly educated professionals, and (2) to explore whether their error strain and leadership career intentions differ among the identified WAL profiles. Data were gathered from 955 highly educated Finnish employees representing different sectors. WAL was measured by a three-dimensional scale consisting of worries about failure, work-life imbalance, and harming others. Based on the Latent Profile Analysis, six WAL profiles emerged: (1) Average-WAL (37% of respondents), (2) Low-WAL (34%), (3) High-WAL (6%), (4) Failure-sensitive (9%), (5) Imbalance-sensitive (4%) and (6) Harm-sensitive (11%). Professionals in the Low-WAL profile reported the lowest error strain, whereas employees in the profiles of High-WAL and Failure-sensitive reported the highest error strain. Employees in the Low-WAL profile were more willing to pursue a leadership career in an unfamiliar organization compared to employees in other profiles. In addition, employees within the Low-WAL profile were more willing to pursue a leadership career in an unfamiliar organization compared to their home organization. Implications of our findings and future directions are discussed.


Keywordsleadership (activity)leadership (properties)conceptionsemployeesacademic degree holderscareeroccupational psychology

Free keywordserror strain; worries about leadership; leadership career intention


Contributing organizations


Related projects


Ministry reportingYes

VIRTA submission year2022

JUFO rating1


Last updated on 2024-12-10 at 13:15