From Manipulation to Silence: Examining the Mediating Roles of Workplace Anxiety and Abusive Supervision and Conditioned by Leaders Self-Serving Cognition
Keywords:
Leaders Machiavellianism, Workplace Anxiety, Abusive Supervision, Leaders Self-Serving Cognition, Employee Silence
Abstract
Aim: Machiavellianism, which describes leaders pursuing their own interests by followers, has recently attracted the attention of academics.
Methodology: The body of data suggests that leaders’ Machiavellianism has a wide range of negative effects, we examine why and when leaders exhibit Machiavellianism in order to provide guidance on how to avoid it. Based on trait activation theory, we suggest that when leaders with Machiavellian traits have a weak sense of responsibility for their choices and employee silence, they are more likely to experience workplace anxiety, abusive supervision, and self-serving cognitionParticipants in the study included 211 workers from Athens, Greece’s service sector SMEs. The theories were tested using structural equation modeling in a quantitative study.
Findings: The findings show that leaders’ Machiavellianism has a significant impact on workplace anxiety and abusive supervision through employee silence. A leader’s self-serving cognition moderates the significant relationship between workplace anxiety, abusive supervision, and employee silence.
Implications/Novel Contribution: The current study offers important theoretical and practical insights into the factors that contribute to leaders’ Machiavellianism
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Zainun, N. F. H., Johari, J., & Adnan, Z. (2021). Machiavellianism, locus of control, moral identity, and ethical leadership among public service leaders in Malaysia: The moderating effect of ethical role modelling. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 41(9/10), 1108-1133.
Zhang, S., Chen, L., Zhang, L., & Stein, A. M. (2022). The ripple effect: How leader workplace anxiety shape follower job performance. Frontiers in psychology, 13, 965365.
Zhang, Y., Peng, S., Wang, J., Akhtar, M. N., & Wang, Y. (2023). Bad apples spoiling the metaphor? how and why self-serving leaders stir up counterproductive behaviors at work. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 1008071.
Ambrose, M. L., & Ganegoda, D. B. (2020). Abusive according to whom? Manager and subordinate perceptions of abusive supervision and supervisors’ performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 41(8), 737-756.
Choi, Y., Ha, S.-B., & Choi, D. (2022). Leader humor and followers’ change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior: the role of leader Machiavellianism. Behavioral Sciences, 12(2), 22.
De Hoogh, A. H., Den Hartog, D. N., & Belschak, F. D. (2021). Showing one’s true colors: Leader Machiavellianism, rules and instrumental climate, and abusive supervision. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 42(7), 851-866.
Dhali, K., Al Masud, A., Hossain, M. A., Lipy, N. S., & Chaity, N. S. (2023). The effects of abusive supervision on the behaviors of employees in an organization. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 8(1), 100695.
Djaparidze, G., & Gelovani, N. (2018). The muslim subjects of the kingdom of georgia in the 12th-early 13th century. Journal of Advances in Humanities and Social Sciences, 4(4), 161-166.
Fischer, T., Tian, A. W., Lee, A., & Hughes, D. J. (2021). Abusive supervision: A systematic review and fundamental rethink. The Leadership Quarterly, 32(6), 101540.
Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of marketing research, 18(1), 39-50.
Genau, H. A., Blickle, G., Schütte, N., & Meurs, J. A. (2021). Machiavellian leader effectiveness. Journal of Personnel Psychology.
Hu, J., He, W., & Zhou, K. (2020). The mind, the heart, and the leader in times of crisis: How and when COVID-19-triggered mortality salience relates to state anxiety, job engagement, and prosocial behavior. Journal of applied Psychology, 105(11), 1218.
Huang, J., Li, Y., & Tang, C. (2023). Leader’s desire for promotion, workplace anxiety and exploitative leadership: The moderating effect of Machiavellianism. Career Development International, 28(6/7), 706-720.
Islam, T., Asif, A., Jamil, S., & Ali, H. F. (2022). How abusive supervision affect knowledge hiding? The mediating role of employee silence and moderating role of psychological ownership. VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems(ahead-of-print).
Jam, F. A., Haq, I. U., & Fatima, T. (2011). Phychological contract and job outcomes: Mediating role of affective commitment. In 1st international technology, education and environment conference.
Kloutsiniotis, P. V., Mihail, D. M., Mylonas, N., & Pateli, A. (2022). Transformational Leadership, HRM practices and burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic: The role of personal stress, anxiety, and workplace loneliness. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 102, 103177.
Liu, L., Wan, Z., Lin, Y., & Wang, X. (2022). The influence of self-serving leadership on deviant behaviors in the workplace: a moderated mediation model. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 825154.
Liyanagamage, N., & Fernando, M. (2023). Machiavellian leadership in organisations: A review of theory and research. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 44(6), 791-811.
Malle, B. F. (2022). Attribution theories: How people make sense of behavior. Theories in Social Psychology, Second Edition, 93-120.
Malle, B. F., & Korman, J. (2013). Attribution theory. Oxford University Press.
Mao, H., Peng, S., Zhang, L., & Zhang, Y. (2023). Self-serving leadership and innovative behavior: Roles of psychological entitlement and moral identity. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1071457.
McCarthy, J., & Goffin, R. (2004). Measuring job interview anxiety: Beyond weak knees and sweaty palms. Personnel Psychology, 57(3), 607-637.
Özkan, A. H. (2022). Abusive supervision climate and turnover intention: is it my coworkers or my supervisor ostracizing me? Journal of Nursing Management, 30(6), 1462-1469.
Pradhan, S., Srivastava, A., & Jena, L. K. (2020). Abusive supervision and intention to quit: Exploring multimediational approaches. Personnel Review, 49(6), 1269-1286.
Sarwar, U., Al Hassan, S., Khassawneh, O., Mohammad, T., & Parveen, R. (2023). One pot sets another boiling: A case of social learning perspective about leader self-serving behaviour and followers self-serving counterproductive work behaviour. Heliyon, 9(3).
Shirokova, G., Galieva, N., Doktorova, D., White, J., & Marino, L. (2022). Strategic Entrepreneurial Behaviors and SME Performance: The Moderating Role of Narcissism and Machiavellianism. Available at SSRN 4119253.
Suseno, Y., Chang, C., Hudik, M., & Fang, E. S. (2023). Beliefs, anxiety and change readiness for artificial intelligence adoption among human resource managers: The moderating role of high-performance work systems. In Artificial intelligence and international hrm (p. 144-171). Routledge.
Waheed, M., & Jam, F. A. (2010). Teacher’s intention to accept online education: Extended TAM model. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, 2(5), 330-344.
Xu, Q., Zhao, Y., Xi, M., & Li, F. (2020). Abusive supervision, high-performance work systems, and subordinate silence. Personnel Review, 49(8), 1637-1653.
Zainun, N. F. H., Johari, J., & Adnan, Z. (2021). Machiavellianism, locus of control, moral identity, and ethical leadership among public service leaders in Malaysia: The moderating effect of ethical role modelling. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 41(9/10), 1108-1133.
Zhang, S., Chen, L., Zhang, L., & Stein, A. M. (2022). The ripple effect: How leader workplace anxiety shape follower job performance. Frontiers in psychology, 13, 965365.
Zhang, Y., Peng, S., Wang, J., Akhtar, M. N., & Wang, Y. (2023). Bad apples spoiling the metaphor? how and why self-serving leaders stir up counterproductive behaviors at work. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 1008071.
Published
2023-12-23
How to Cite
Georgia Moschogianni. (2023). From Manipulation to Silence: Examining the Mediating Roles of Workplace Anxiety and Abusive Supervision and Conditioned by Leaders Self-Serving Cognition. Journal of Advanced Research in Social Sciences and Humanities, 8(4), 13-26. https://doi.org/10.26500/JARSSH-08-2023-0402
Section
Articles
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
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