This study investigated the relationship between authoritarian leadership and employees’ deviant workplace behaviors (DWB), as well as the mediating effects of psychological contract violation and organizational cynicism. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 391 manufacturing workers in a northern city of China. Structural equation modeling was performed to test the theory-driven models. The results showed that the relationship between authoritarian leadership and employees’ DWB was mediated by organizational cynicism. Moreover, this relationship was also sequentially mediated by psychological contract violation and organizational cynicism. This research unveiled psychological contract violation and organizational cynicism as underlying mechanism that explained the link between authoritarian leadership and employees’ DWB.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explicate the relationship between workplace ostracism and deviant behavior, and further test the mediating role of emotional exhaustion and the moderating role of resilience.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 409 first-line production workers from four manufacturing enterprises in China was collected. A moderated mediation analysis was employed to test the hypotheses and examine the relationships proposed in the research framework.FindingsThe findings indicate that emotional exhaustion could mediate the relationship between workplace ostracism and deviant behavior. Moreover, the results from the moderated mediation analysis suggest that the mediation of emotional exhaustion is moderated by resilience such that with a higher level of resilience, the mediation effect of emotional exhaustion becomes weaker.Research limitations/implicationsThe participants of this study are limited to manufacturing enterprises, and thus our findings may not be equally valid for other types of industries. Meanwhile, this study is a cross-sectional research that could not explain the causal relationship between workplace ostracism and deviant behavior.Practical implicationsThe present research can offer some managerial implications about how to avoid the occurrence of workplace ostracism and deviant behavior for organizations.Originality/valueThis study constructs a moderated mediation model by introducing the potential mediating role of emotional exhaustion and the moderating effect of resilience in order to reveal the mechanism through which workplace ostracism relates to deviant behavior. Our research not only integrates and enriches the ideas of the Stress-Non-Equilibrium-Compensation Approach and the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping Theory but could also inform future management practices for mitigating the negative consequences of workplace ostracism.

The current study investigated the relationship between gratitude, internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors, along with the mediating roles of positive and negative coping styles therein. A sample of 589 Chinese adolescents completed the Gratitude Questionnaire (GQ-6), the Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire (SCSQ), the Irritability, Depression, and Anxiety Scale (IDAS), and the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ). Results of structural equation modeling showed that (1) the total effects of gratitude on both internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors were all significant and (2) both positive and negative coping styles mediated the links between gratitude and two types of problem behaviors. Thus, cultivating gratitude and developing adaptive coping style may help adolescents rectify problem behaviors.

Filial piety (FP) was formerly a Confucian concept that specifies how children should treat their elders. In recent years, some psychologists have postulated that there are considerable overlaps between Chinese FP and notions found in other cultures. They have redefined FP as a contextualized personality emphasizing the psychological schema of parent-child interaction so that it fits universal cultural contexts. Based on this theory construction, this study aimed to examine the effects of reciprocal FP and authoritarian FP on life satisfaction and the mediating roles of individuating autonomy and relating autonomy therein. To do so, we recruited and surveyed 360 high school students in China. Subsequently, a mediation model based on the Dual Filial Piety Model and previous studies was tested. Results demonstrate that reciprocal FP predicted life satisfaction positively and that both individuating autonomy and relating autonomy played significant mediating roles in the relationship between reciprocal FP and life satisfaction. Moreover, authoritarian FP had a negative indirect effect on satisfaction through the mediating role of individuating autonomy, while authoritarian FP had a positive indirect influence on satisfaction through the mediating role of relating autonomy. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

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We investigated the relationship between gratitude and school well-being, and the mediating effect of interpersonal relationships and social support. Participants were 782 Chinese undergraduate students who completed measures of gratitude, interpersonal relationships, social support, school satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect in school. Results revealed that gratitude was positively associated with school well-being, and that both interpersonal relationships and social support acted as mediators of this relationship. The final model also showed a significant sequential pathway from gratitude to interpersonal relationships, and then through social support to school well-being. Implications and limitations of the findings are discussed.

Gratitude is a crucial element of mental health and wellbeing. But the underlying mechanism by which gratitude is negatively associated with anxiety and depression has been underinvestigated. The current study aimed to examine the associations among gratitude, anxiety, and depression in Chinese adolescents, with a focus on coping flexibility as an individual factor mediating their associations. To do this, 492 middleschool students in China were surveyed. Subsequently, a mediation model based on the broaden-and-build theory, transactional theory of coping, and previous studies was tested. Results demonstrated that the total effects of gratitude on both anxiety and depression were significant. Moreover, coping flexibility significantly mediated the influence of gratitude on both anxiety and depression. Therefore, improving gratitude and enhancing coping flexibility may protect Chinese adolescents from anxiety and depression.

Although existing studies on adolescent well-being have revealed a positive relationship between gratitude and global subjective well-being, little research investigates whether the findings could be applied to domain-specific of subjective well-being, such as school well-being, and why this linkage arises. The present study addresses this gap by examining the effect of gratitude on school well-being, and the mediation of materialism. Participants were 764 late adolescents who completed measures of gratitude, materialism, and school well-being. Results showed that gratitude had a positive effect on school wellbeing, which was partially mediated by materialism. Furthermore, a multi-group analysis suggested that the pathway from gratitude to school well-being was significantly different between genders. Practical implications and limitations of this study are discussed.