Despotic Leadership and Front-Line Employee Deviant Work Behaviors in Service Organizations: The Roles of Moral Disengagement and Moral Identity

Abstract

Research on despotic leadership and its impacts on the behavior of front-line employees (FLE) in service organizations is nascent. Drawing on the social cognitive theory of morality, we develop and test a model in two service settings investigating the direct and indirect effects of despotic leadership on three FLE deviant work behaviors. In Study 1, using a multi-wave, multi-data source research design with data derived from banks, telecommunications, and training/education service organizations in Pakistan, we demonstrate the ecological validity of our constructs. In Study 2, using a multi-wave, multi-source longitudinal research design, we investigated these relationships in hotels located in Pakistan and confirmed the results found in Study 1 and also investigated the sustainability of deviant work outcomes. Cumulatively, we found support for the direct effects of despotic leadership on FLE deviant work behaviors. Moral disengagement acted as a partial mediator of these relationships and moral identity moderated the mediated relationship between despotic leadership and FLE deviant work behaviors via moral disengagement. Our findings provide a nuanced understanding of despotic leadership and FLE deviant work behaviors in service settings. We contribute to the front-line services literature stream by focusing on the supervisor and FLE interaction and highlighting research and practice implications.