Abstract
Although paradoxical leader behavior (PLB) is widely theorized as effective for managing competing demands, limited research has examined whether it translates into perceived leader effectiveness or how followers cognitively interpret it. Drawing on an information-processing framework, we propose a two-stage model in which followers first engage in inferential processing to attribute leader traits and then rely on recognition-based processes to evaluate effectiveness. Using three-wave time-lagged data from Japanese employees (Study 1), we find that PLB increases perceived leader humility and reduces perceived leader narcissism. Humility positively predicts leader effectiveness, whereas narcissism negatively predicts it, supporting a dual-pathway mediation mechanism. Followers’ holistic thinking conditions these inferential processes, strengthening the narcissism-reduction pathway and, to a lesser extent, the humility pathway. In a complementary cross-sectional sample from Western countries (Study 2), the humility-based mediation replicated, whereas the moderation by holistic thinking and the narcissism-based pathway were not supported. Together, these findings clarify when paradoxical leadership is cognitively legitimized as effective and highlight contextual boundary conditions of these evaluative processes.