Scholars have long sought to understand how the emotional displays of leaders make an impact on their followers at work. Much of this literature has emphasized that followers respond favorably to leaders displaying excitement, as these emotions are believed to be highly desired by followers and hence capable of inciting follower behavior at work. However, research has made the implicit assumption that followers are equally predisposed to excitement, while leaving it uncertain how the affective values of followers play a role in shaping follower reactions to leaders at work. To bridge this gap, I suggest that followers vary in their affective values, such that followers differ in their preferences towards high activation positive emotions (e.g., excitement) and low activation positive emotions (e.g., calm). Subsequently, when a follower’s affective values align with the emotion displayed by their leader, I posit that the follower will experience greater emotion in response to their leader’s displays and in turn, exhibit greater behavior (e.g., goal progress) at work. In contrast, a mismatch between a follower’s affective values and the leader’s emotional display will lead to diminished emotional reactions in the follower, lowering the extent to which the leader can shape their follower’s behavior. Results from an experience sampling study provide support for most of these predictions. Altogether, I demonstrate that follower reactions to leaders depend on affective values, such that not every follower wants an exciting leader at work.
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