Kong Lingnan, Liu Sha, Liu Lu, Yu Shunkun
School of Economics and Management, North China Electric Power University, No. 2, Bei Nong Road, Changping District, Beijing, 102206, China.
Finance Department, Renmin University of China, No. 59 Zhongguancun Street, Haidian District, Beijing, 100872, China.
BMC Psychol. 2025 May 6;13(1):479. doi: 10.1186/s40359-025-02791-0.
The study of the dark side of leadership is gaining growing interest, with negative leadership exerting a stronger influence on employees than positive leadership. Considering the importance of employees' proactive behaviors for organizational innovation and long-term growth, investigating whether exploitative leadership-a representative form of negative leadership-impacts such behaviors is a meaningful research question.
This study aims to explore the impact of exploitative leadership on subordinates' taking charge behavior, as well as the mediating role of subordinates' organizational identification and the moderating role of traditionality.
We conducted a two-phase survey using convenience sampling across various industries in China, collecting cross-sectional data from 348 employees. A structural equation model with latent variables was used to test all hypotheses.
This study found that exploitative leadership negatively affects taking charge behavior, and organizational identification mediates the relationship between exploitative leadership and taking charge behavior. Furthermore, traditionality weakens the negative impact of exploitative leadership on organizational identification, as well as the indirect relationship between exploitative leadership and taking charge behavior through organizational identification. In other words, subordinates with high traditionality are more likely to adhere to authority, mitigating the adverse effects of exploitative leadership.
This study applies social identity theory to explore the negative impact of exploitative leadership on taking charge behavior, revealing the internal mechanisms and boundary conditions of this relationship, thus filling a gap in the literature on exploitative leadership. We also provide practical recommendations for organizations to mitigate the harmful effects of exploitative leadership and enhance the governance of leaders' exploitative behaviors.
对领导力阴暗面的研究越来越受到关注，消极领导力对员工的影响比积极领导力更强。考虑到员工积极行为对组织创新和长期发展的重要性，探究剥削型领导（一种消极领导力的代表形式）是否会影响此类行为是一个有意义的研究问题。
本研究旨在探讨剥削型领导对下属主动负责行为的影响，以及下属组织认同的中介作用和传统性的调节作用。
我们采用便利抽样在中国各行业进行了两阶段调查，收集了348名员工的横截面数据。使用带有潜在变量的结构方程模型来检验所有假设。
本研究发现，剥削型领导对主动负责行为有负面影响，组织认同在剥削型领导与主动负责行为之间起中介作用。此外，传统性削弱了剥削型领导对组织认同的负面影响，以及剥削型领导通过组织认同与主动负责行为之间的间接关系。换句话说，传统性高的下属更有可能服从权威，减轻剥削型领导的不利影响。
本研究应用社会认同理论探讨剥削型领导对主动负责行为的负面影响，揭示这种关系的内在机制和边界条件，从而填补了剥削型领导文献的空白。我们还为组织提供了实用建议，以减轻剥削型领导的有害影响并加强对领导者剥削行为的治理。
