Understanding the Despotic Leadership and Perception of Politics in relation to Employee Outcome: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Since the turn of the millennium, the dark side of leadership is increasing scholarly attention both in general and specific contexts. Every organization may try to either reduce or exaggerate the prevalence and impact of despotic leadership and perception of politics. It is therefore pertinent to explore antecedents and outcomes of despotic leadership and POP and their relationship at the workplace. The purpose of this research is to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the academic literature addressing despotic leadership and the perception of politics (POP) inside organizations broadly. A total of 108 papers from 99 peer-reviewed journals met the criteria after a comprehensive and methodical search.  Using what they've learned about despotic leadership behavior and how people see politics in general, the researchers rely on previous work on both topics before integrating them into their own theoretical framework. As a result of their efforts, a thorough framework is established, which classifies the sources cited and describes the causes and effects of POP and despotic leadership. This research lays the groundwork for further studies in the area by offering a critical review of the existing literature on despotic leadership and how people perceive organization politics.