Educational Leaders and Emotions: An International Review of Empirical Evidence 1992–2012

The aim of the present article is to review the international evidence about emotional aspects related to educational leaders. The review focuses on empirical studies published in peer-refereed educational journals between 1992 and 2012. First, we address the importance of researching emotions for understanding educational leaders. Next, we present the method used in the production of this narrative review. The bulk of the article presents empirical evidence from 49 studies organized along themes. Three central themes have emerged in the review: (a) the factors influencing the leaders’ emotions, (b) leaders’ behaviors and their effects on followers’ emotions, and (c) leaders’ emotional abilities. Within each theme, we present subthemes that include summaries of the relevant key findings. The article concludes with several methodological recommendations and an outline of possible directions for future research.