Non listening and self centered leadership - relationships to socioeconomic conditions and employee mental health

• Background: The way in which leadership is experienced in different socioeconomic strata is of interest per se, as well as how it relates to employee mental health. Methods: Three waves of SLOSH (Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health, a questionnaire survey on a sample of the Swedish working population) were used, 2006, 2008 and 2010 (n = 5141). The leadership variables were: Non-listening leadership (one question: Does your manager listen to you? - four response categories), Self centered leadership (sum of three five-graded questions - non-participating, asocial and loner). The socioeconomic factors were education and income. Emotional exhaustion and depressive symptoms were used as indicators of mental health. Results: Non-listening leadership was associated with low income and low education whereas self-centered leadership showed a weaker relationship with education and no association at all with income. Both leadership variables were significantly associated with emotional exhaustion and depressive symptoms. Self centered as well as non-listening leadership in 2006 significantly predicted employee depressive symptoms in 2008 after adjustment for demographic variables. These predictions became non-significant when adjustment was made for job conditions (demands and decision latitude) in the non-listening leadership analyses, whereas predictions of depressive symptoms remained significant after these adjustments in the self-centered leadership analyses. Conclusions: Our results show that the leadership variables are associated with socioeconomic status and employee mental health. Non-listening scores were more sensitive to societal change and more strongly related to socioeconomic factors and job conditions than self-centered scores.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Tvärvetenskapliga studier inom samhällsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Social Sciences Interdisciplinary (hsv//eng)

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