When Respect Meets Strategy: How Personal Traits, Fairness, and Forgiveness Shape Ingratiation

What is it about?

This study examines how employees’ deference to leader authority—their willingness to show respect and submission to supervisors—drives upward ingratiation, or efforts to please and flatter leaders. Drawing on Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, the research interprets ingratiation as a resource-preserving behavior: employees seek to maintain favor and psychological safety in hierarchical environments by aligning closely with authority figures. Using survey data from employees in Mozambique’s banking sector, the study finds that employees who strongly defer to leaders are more likely to engage in ingratiation, especially when certain traits and contexts intensify this tendency. Four moderators—dispositional greed, cynicism, informational justice, and organizational forgiveness—strengthen the link. Greedy or distrustful employees use flattery strategically, while fair or forgiving climates make ingratiation seem safer for maintaining harmony and security. The findings suggest that ingratiation can emerge not only from manipulation but also from cultural respect and adaptive self-protection. Organizations that understand this dual nature can better distinguish between healthy expressions of respect and strategic compliance, using transparent and supportive leadership to reduce dependence on ingratiatory behavior.

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Photo by Memento Media on Unsplash

Photo by Memento Media on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This study is unique in showing that all four moderators—greed, cynicism, informational justice, and organizational forgiveness—intensify the relationship between deference to authority and upward ingratiation. Integrating COR theory with social-exchange perspectives, it reframes ingratiation as a multifaceted strategy that blends cultural respect, self-interest, and adaptive coping. Rather than viewing flattery as purely unethical, the research uncovers when and why it becomes an energy-conserving tool in hierarchical systems. It is also timely, as organizations across emerging economies and beyond face rising complexity, leadership pressure, and cultural negotiation. Conducted in Mozambique, the study provides a cross-cultural lens on how employees navigate hierarchy and uncertainty through behavioral adaptation. Its insights underscore the importance of balancing fairness, forgiveness, and transparency so that deference leads to authentic collaboration rather than strategic compliance—helping organizations strengthen trust while respecting cultural values.