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- Firefighters’ leadership and well-being in rural fires: study in virtual reality environmentsPublication . Pinheiro, Raquel; Reis, Vitor; Curral, Luis; Chambel, Maria JoséIn this study, we analysed the effects of team leadership style on the well-being of firefighter teams operating under conditions of a simulated rural fire. Twenty teams of firefighters (composed of five elements each) took part in a computer‐based fire‐fighting simulation task and were randomly assigned to one of two conditions (leadership style: directive vs. empowering). Our results showed that directive leadership style was negatively associated with team members levels of stress and anxiety, while an empowering leadership style did not have a significant effect on team members levels of stress and anxiety. The distinct effects of team leadership style remain unchanged when we controlled for the levels of stress and anxiety before the simulation. Through moderated regression analyses we observed that the effect of directive leadership styles in reducing stress and anxiety was stronger for participants with higher levels of previous stress and anxiety. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.