Shades of paternalistic leadership across cultures

Abstract

Previous research has shown that Paternalistic Leadership (PL), an emerging non-western theory, is endorsed in high power distance and collectivistic societies. However, the ambiguous nature of PL calls for a better understanding of its endorsement across cultures. Based on GLOBE's project data from 59 societies, we examine PL acceptance around the world. Our findings suggest that PL is not universally nor homogeneously endorsed, but that different patterns of endorsement give rise to idiosyncratic shades of PL across cultures. Specifically, among the 22 societies that endorse some form of paternalism, our results allowed us to distinguish between Benevolent and Exploitative PL