Social cognitive consequences of leader artistic literacy

Abstract Despite an increasing interest in developing leaders' artistic capacities to address the complexities and uncertainties of the business environment, there is a scarcity of empirical research on the interpersonal effects of those capacities. To fill this gap, we introduce the concept of “leader artistic literacy” (a leader's proficiency and understanding of various forms of art and their ability to incorporate artistic elements into their communication and behaviors when interacting with followers) and delve into its effects for subordinates. Drawing upon the warmth and competence framework and implicit leadership theory, we investigated how leaders' artistic literacy in different industries influences leadership effectiveness through social cognition of warmth and competence. The results of two experiments (Study 1: N = 146; Study 2: N = 209) with participants from different industries demonstrated that higher artistic literacy in art‐related industries leads to positive social cognition (warmth and competence perception), which in turn promotes subordinates' liking and perceived leaders' promotability. By contrast, in nonart‐related industries, higher artistic literacy may be detrimental to leaders. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.