Flattery is one of the oldest and most commonly used impression-management tactics in everyday life. Though it often brings benefits to the flatterer, less is known about how it affects the target. In the present research, we explore when and why being flattered can be costly for leaders-common targets of flattery-depending on how they respond to it. We suggest that leaders who are observed rewarding flatterers risk appearing naïve to others. Across seven studies and six supplementary studies (N = 4,612), we find evidence that leaders who grant favors to flatterers are often perceived to have naively "fallen for flattery," which shapes observers' impressions of the leaders and the organizations they represent. A first set of studies (Studies 1-4) detail the variety of factors that lead observers to conclude their leader has fallen for flattery and the resulting impacts to the leaders' reputation and their organization (e.g., competence, warmth, commitment to the leader, organizational fairness). The second set of studies look at the contextual factors that impact what costs leaders pay for being perceived to have fallen for flattery, including the type of flattery (Study 5), who is harmed by the favor (Study 6), and the leader's apparent awareness of the motives underlying flattery (Study 7). Whereas previous research highlights positive consequences of flattery for the flatterer, we find that flattery comes with costs for leaders and their organizations. We discuss theoretical and practical implications for leaders who are frequently flattered. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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太天真而无法领导：当领导者陷入阿谀奉承时。

奉承是日常生活中最古老、最常用的印象管理策略之一。尽管它常常会给奉承者带来好处，但人们对其如何影响目标却知之甚少。在目前的研究中，我们探讨了领导者何时以及为何受到奉承可能会付出高昂的代价（奉承的常见目标），具体取决于他们对此的反应。我们建议，那些被观察到奖励阿谀奉承者的领导者可能会在别人眼中显得天真。通过七项研究和六项补充研究（N = 4,612），我们发现有证据表明，向奉承者提供恩惠的领导者常常被认为天真地“受了奉承”，这塑造了观察者对领导者及其所代表的组织的印象。第一组研究（研究 1-4）详细介绍了导致观察者断定其领导者容易受奉承的各种因素，以及由此产生的对领导者声誉及其组织的影响（例如，能力、热情、对领导者的承诺） ，组织公平）。第二组研究着眼于影响领导者因被认为受奉承而付出的代价的背景因素，包括奉承的类型（研究 5）、谁因受惠而受到伤害（研究 6）以及领导者的明显表现。意识到奉承背后的动机（研究 7）。尽管之前的研究强调了奉承对奉承者的积极影响，但我们发现奉承会给领导者及其组织带来成本。我们讨论了对经常受宠若惊的领导者的理论和实践意义。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2023 APA，保留所有权利）。