Inferences about causes and consequences of behavior of leaders and subordinates

This study addresses spontaneous inferences about causes and consequences of performance‐related behavior of leaders and subordinates. Respondents (leaders and subordinates) completed sentences describing the behavior of leaders or subordinates. It was expected that behavior of leaders induces more causal analysis because it can more strongly affect others. This hypothesis was confirmed, suggesting that position labels can trigger control motivation. It was also found that leader behavior induced more inferences about the consequences for the environment than for the actor, supporting the assumption that leaders are seen as persons who affect their environment. In addition, the data indicate that subordinate respondents made more inferences about causes as well as consequences than leaders did, and have a more positive view of others. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.