Unconstructive curiosity killed the cat: The importance of follower political skill and constructive curiosity to avoid leader perceptions of insubordination and unlikability

Abstract

The popular business press has portrayed workplace curiosity – defined as the pursuit of information, knowledge, or learning in the workplace – as the most valuable quality employees can possess. Most research examining workplace curiosity has found that it is positively related to desirable employee outcomes; however, little is known about the potential dark side of this well-intentioned, yet risky, workplace behavior. Further, past research suggests that well-intentioned risky follower acts can lead to unintended negative leader perceptions. In this paper, we theorize that the relationship between follower curiosity and leader ratings of follower likability is mediated by leader perceptions of follower insubordination, and that this mediated relationship is moderated by follower political skill, such that the indirect effect of follower curiosity on follower likability via perceptions of follower insubordination is stronger for followers with lower (rather than higher) political skill. In Study 1, using data from three samples of leader–follower dyads collected at three time points, we find support for our theoretical model. In Study 2, using experimental vignette methodology, we not only find that follower curiosity and political skill interact to predict lower levels of leader perceptions of follower insubordination, but also that the curiosity of politically skilled followers is perceived as more constructive than the curiosity of followers who are less politically skilled. In Study 3, also using experimental vignette methodology, we find that leaders rate curious followers as more insubordinate and less likable when they engage in unconstructive curiosity. Together these three studies suggest that political skill enables followers to be curious without being perceived as insubordinate, that follower curiosity is less risky when it is constructive, and that curious followers who ask the right questions are less likely to be considered insubordinate or unlikable by their leader. Implications and future research directions are discussed.