Man in the mirror? Exploring the influence of leader and follower narcissism (in)congruence on follower voice

The effects of leader narcissism have sparked multiple controversies for decades, yet studies point out leader narcissism is generally regarded as a strong inhibitor of follower voice. However, this focus may overlook the potential role of follower narcissism in repairing the systems and relationships narcissistic leaders damaged. Building on approach-inhibition theory of power and literature on narcissism, we posit that the outcomes of leader narcissism may depend on the critical boundary condition of follower narcissism. Through a dyadic approach to consider leader and follower narcissism simultaneously, we explore whether and how leader-follower narcissism (in)congruence influences follower voice. Across a two-wave multi-phase and multi-source field study, the results of polynomial regression analyses showed that when leader and follower were congruent in narcissism, followers experienced a higher level of sense of psychological power. Compared to low-low dyadic congruence, follower sense of psychological power was higher in high-high dyadic congruence. Moreover, the asymmetric incongruence effects revealed that followers experienced the lowest level of sense of psychological power in the high-low dyadic incongruence. Meanwhile, sense of psychological power mediated the influence of leader-follower narcissism (in)congruence on follower voice. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.