Despotic Leadership (De Hoogh & Den Hartog)
LeadershipReliability: alpha 0.853 sample items
About this scale
A 6-item measure of despotic leadership — authoritarian, controlling, dominating, and unethical leadership oriented toward leader self-interest. A dark-side counterpart to ethical leadership.
Sample item(s)
“My supervisor acts like a tyrant or despot.”
“My supervisor punishes subordinates without telling them what they did wrong.”
“My supervisor has no pity or compassion.”
Reliability
Reported internal consistency: alpha 0.85. As a rule of thumb, Cronbach’s α ≥ .70 is considered acceptable, ≥ .80 good, and ≥ .90 excellent for established measures.
Notes
Use alongside abusive supervision and bottom-line mentality for full dark-side leadership coverage.
Source & citation
De Hoogh, A. H. B., & Den Hartog, D. N. (2008): Ethical and despotic leadership, relationships with leader's social responsibility, top management team effectiveness and subordinates' optimism: A multi-method study. Leadership Quarterly, Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 297–311.
De Hoogh & Den Hartog (2008): Despotic leadership. LQ, 19(3), 297–311.
Source. Scale details are summarised from the publication cited above. Always consult the original source for the full item set, scoring, and permission to use.
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