Beyond Good and Bad: Understanding the Contradictory Effects of Positive Leadership Behavior and Negative Leadership Behavior

Abstract

Organizational scholarship has long focused on leadership behavior, largely assuming that “good” and “bad” leaders can be distinguished by distinct sets of behaviors that can be organized into constructs with an inherent positive or negative valence (e.g., transformational, ethical, abusive). This assumption has guided extensive construct development and generated a substantial body of evidence consistent with each leadership construct’s expected valence. Yet, emerging research has documented the “dark side” of positive leadership and the “bright side” of negative leadership, revealing effects that contradict these expectations—effects that we call leadership contradictory effects. Despite growing interest in this line of research, the literature remains fragmented, with limited clarity regarding its scope and little theoretical integration explaining why, how, and when such effects occur. This motivates our review, which synthesizes these fragmented findings into a cohesive theoretical account organized around shared themes that cut across leadership constructs. First, we define leadership contradictory effects and review major approaches to operationalize them. Then, we advance an integrative framework that delineates three major theoretical themes, their associated theories, and three categories of boundary conditions to explain why, how, and when leadership contradictory effects arise. Finally, we propose paths forward, including suggestions to guide future research in this emerging domain. Overall, our work reorients scholars and points them beyond valence-based assumptions about leadership effects as a means to explore a broader range of consequences.