To Flatter or to assert? Gendered reactions to Machiavellian leaders

Integrating power dependence and gender role theories, we investigate the interactive effects of followers’ gender and leaders’ Machiavellian orientation in predicting followers’ usage of upward influence tactics. Using a sample of 156 matched leader–follower dyads, we found that followers’ gender moderated the relationship between Time 1 leaders’ Machiavellian orientation and followers’ use of upward influence tactics at Time 2 (6 months later). Specifically, the relationship between Time 1 leaders’ Machiavellianism and Time 2 followers’ ingratiation (a soft influence tactic) was significant and positive for women followers and non-significant for men followers, while the relationship between Time 1 leaders’ Machiavellianism and Time 2 followers’ assertiveness (a hard influence tactic) was significant and positive for men followers but non-significant for women followers. These results suggest that gender plays an important role in how followers react to Machiavellian leaders. The social and ethical implications of these findings are discussed.