Lack of sleep and the development of leader-follower relationships over time

•Effects of sleep on leader-follower relationship development via hostility.•Leader's lack of sleep influences follower's relationship quality via hostility.•Follower's lack of sleep influences leader's relationship quality via hostility.•Sleep deprived individuals are not aware of the effects of sleep loss on others.

Drawing from the sleep and emotion regulation model, and attribution theory, we argue that sleep can influence the quality of the relationship between leaders and their followers. Specifically, we examined the effects of lack of sleep on leader-follower relationship development at the beginning of their dyad tenure. We hypothesized that the negative effects of lack of sleep on relationships are mediated by hostility. Results based on 86 new dyads (first three days of their work relationship) showed support for our hypotheses (Study 1). Results based on 40 leaders and 120 followers over three months (five waves) also showed that lack of sleep influences perceptions of relationship quality via hostility for both leaders and followers (Study 2). Moreover, we found that the direct effects of follower lack of sleep affect leader perceptions of relationship quality in the first month of their dyad tenure but decreasingly so over time; the direct effects of a leader lack of sleep on follower perceptions of relationship quality did not vary based on dyad tenure. Results revealed that individuals are not aware of the impact of their own lack of sleep on other people's perceptions of relationship quality, suggesting that leaders and followers may be damaging their relationship without realizing it.