Leader-follower congruence in proactive personality and work engagement: A polynomial regression analysis

- The current study illustrated the congruence effect between followers' and leaders' proactive personalities.
- This study demonstrated an asymmetrical incongruence effect on follower work engagement.
- Proactive personality was positively associated with work engagement.

Integrating the theory of person-environment fit and job demands-resources model, this study explored the effects of congruence of proactive personalities of leaders and followers on follower work engagement. Dyadic data were collected from 100 leaders and 583 followers in two public hospitals in China. Using polynomial regression analysis and response surface modeling, the effect of the congruence of leader and follower proactive personalities on follower work engagement was justified. The results indicated that follower work engagement increased when their proactive personalities increased. The results further highlighted an asymmetrical incongruence effect that followers are more engaged at work when followers' proactive personalities exceeded that of their leaders than when leaders' proactive personalities exceeded that of followers. These findings provide valuable suggestions to promote work engagement.