Papers from the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology Conferences
Publication Date
11-2022
Abstract
Presenteeism is the behavior of working with ill-health. Due to associated productivity losses and substantial transmission risks during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, presenteeism is gaining increased attention in occupational psychological research. To understand the complexity of this phenomenon, research on contextual influences is needed. Our study investigated positive leadership behavior (transformational leadership, TFL) and negative leadership behavior (passive-avoidant leadership, PAL) as social-contextual predictors, next to stress. We hypothesized that in countries with high masculine values, presenteeism is more likely to occur. Our study involved 979 employees from the different cultural contexts of Germany, Ireland, Latvia and Spain that answered an online questionnaire. Results displayed prevalence ranges between an average of 3.93 days (Ireland) to 22.11 days (Spain) over the last 12 months. In all countries, higher job stress was associated significantly with higher levels of presenteeism. Correlational analyses of leadership behaviors showed mixed results: Negative correlations between TFL and presenteeism were only significant in Germany and Spain, positive correlations between PAL and presenteeism were only significant in Germany and Latvia. This study questions the influence of masculine values and emphasizes the importance of leader-follower quality in presenteeism research.
ScholarWorks Citation
Czakert, J. P., Reif, J. A. M., & Berger, R. (2022). Leadership behavior, stress, and presenteeism: A cross-cultural comparison. In M. Klicperova-Baker & W. Friedlmeier (Eds.), Xenophobia vs. Patriotism: Where is my Home? Proceedings from the 25th Congress of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology, 293. https://doi.org/10.4087/HPFU6367
Acknowledgments
A previous version of this study was presented at the IACCP 25th International Congress of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 27th-31st July 2020.
This research is part of the Erasmus+ Project IMPRESS (“Improving management competences on Excellence based Stress avoidance and working towards Sustainable organizational development in Europe”). The project aims to develop and validate an innovative toolset for identifying and dealing with stress-related issues in organizations and to provide support by means of new coaching and training materials addressing the identified problems. Disclaimer: The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Rita Berger, Department of Social and Quantitative Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain, Passeig de la Vall d’Hebrón, 171, 080035 Barcelona, ritaberger@ub.edu.
Jan Philipp Czakert (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8492-1824)
Julia A. M. Reif (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2749-8510)
Rita Berger (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9908-3672)