Rebellion Under Exploitation: How and When Exploitative Leadership Evokes Employees’ Workplace Deviance

Yijing Lyu (), Long-Zeng Wu (), Yijiao Ye (), Ho Kwong Kwan () and Yuanyi Chen ()
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Yijing Lyu: Xiamen University
Long-Zeng Wu: Xiamen University
Yijiao Ye: Shenzhen University
Ho Kwong Kwan: Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management Department, China Europe International Business School (CEIBS)
Yuanyi Chen: Hong Kong Baptist University

Journal of Business Ethics, 2023, vol. 185, issue 3, No 1, 483-498

Abstract: Abstract Drawing on the perspective of causal reasoning and the social cognitive theory of moral thought and action, this study explores the mechanisms underlying the association between exposure to exploitative leadership and employee workplace deviance. The results of a time-lagged survey conducted in China reveal that exposure to exploitative leadership can evoke a moral justification process that leads to increased employee organizational and interpersonal deviance. A tendency toward hostile attribution bias reinforces the direct link between exploitative leadership and moral justification and the indirect effects of exploitative leadership on employee organizational and interpersonal deviance, via moral justification. The theoretical and practical implications of this study are discussed and potential directions for future studies are proposed.

Keywords: Exploitative leadership; Hostile attribution bias; Interpersonal deviance; Moral justification; Organizational deviance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-022-05207-w

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