Too Tired to Inspire or Be Inspired: Sleep Deprivation and Charismatic Leadership

We draw from theory on sleep and affect regulation to extend the emotional labor model of leadership. We examine both leader and follower sleep as important antecedents of attributions of charismatic leadership. In Study 1, we manipulate the sleep of leaders, and find that leader emotional labor in the form of deep acting (but not surface acting or authentically experienced positive affect) mediates the harmful effect of leader sleep deprivation on follower ratings of charismatic leadership. In Study 2, we manipulate the sleep of followers, and find that follower experienced positive affect mediates the harmful effect of follower sleep deprivation on follower ratings of charismatic leadership of the leader. Thus, both leader and follower sleep deprivation harm attributions of charismatic leadership, with the regulation and experience of affect as causal mechanisms.