The Relations Between Authoritarian Leadership and Counterproductive Work Behaviors: The Role of Psychological Resilience

The present study investigates the mediating role of psychological resilience on the relationship between authoritarian leadership and counterproductive work behaviors (sabotage, withdrawal, theft and abuse). The sample consisted of 227 male employee, mostly blue-collar, working in different sectors. Their ages ranged between 23 and 58. The results showed that psychological resilience partially mediates the relationship between authoritarian leadership and sabotage, withdrawal and theft sub-dimensions of couterproductive work behavior. Mediating role of resilience was not significant for abuse sub-dimension. These findings show that resilience is necessary to overcome the negative consequences of working with authoritarian leader. Hereby, these findings support literature that the psychological resilience ability is a crucial competency in stressful circumtances.