Eckloff, T., & van Quaquebeke, N. (2008). I will follow you, if you leave me room enough. How perceived autonomy affects influence processes in leadership dyads. Paper presented at the 9th Leadership Meeting, Berlin, GER, July 25th.

Influencing subordinates is a central function of leadership. Therefore it is interesting for researchers and practitioners alike to understand the processes which affect influence in leadership dyads. Research on respectful leadership behaviour suggests that respectful leadership is a strong predictor of influence-relevant outcomes such as subordinates’ voluntary openness to their leaders influence and the identification with their leaders. In the first study (N = 557) we examined the role of perceived autonomy as a moderator of the relationship between respectful leadership

and subordinates’ openness to a leader’s influence. We can show that this relation is stronger, the more autonomous subordinates feel in their relationship to their leaders. In the second study (N = 596) we were able to replicate the findings of our first study and we additionally show, that perceived autonomy moderates the relationship between respectful leadership and subordinates’ identification with their leaders.