Purpose Although research has shown that anger displays
lead to more perceived power than sadness displays, sad-
ness displays often result in more positive leadership out-
comes than anger displays. Aiming to explain this
discrepancy, we examine the specific power bases that are
inferred from leaders’ anger versus sadness displays as
potential explanatory mechanisms.
Design/Methodology/Approach We
conducted
three
experimental studies, replicating results with students and
working adults and with different induction methods.
Findings Our results indicate that the discrepancy between
the effects of anger and sadness displays on power
ascriptions and leadership outcomes can be explained by
divergent power bases ascribed to angry versus sad leaders.
Whereas more position (i.e., legitimate, reward and coer-
cive) power was ascribed to angry leaders than to sad
leaders, sad leaders were viewed as possessing more per-
sonal (i.e., referent) power than angry leaders. Moreover,
while angry leaders’ higher legitimate power was

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• It’s the Base: Why Displaying Anger Instead of Sadness Might Increase Leaders’ Perceived Power but Worsen Their Leadership Outcomes