Coping with Dark Leadership: Examination of the Impact of Psychological Capital on the Relationship between Dark Leaders and Employees’ Basic Need Satisfaction in the Workplace

Abstract

In leadership research, the Dark Triad of personality has become a topic of great interest. This construct includes the personality traits of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and subclinical psychopathy and is associated with several negative outcomes for organizations and followers’ satisfaction. In contrast, the construct of psychological capital, which includes hope, resilience, self-efficacy, and optimism, is positively related to extra-role organizational citizenship behaviors and employee performance. Therefore, the question arises whether people can benefit from psychological capital when confronted with a manager that exhibits dark personality traits. Subsequently, the purpose of this study is to examine the potential impact of psychological capital on the relationship between the Dark Triad traits of managers and the work-related basic need satisfaction of employees. Thus, a dataset of 469 employees was analyzed. Regression analyses demonstrated that the Dark Triad of personality and psychological capital both work as predictors of work-related basic need satisfaction. When controlling for mediating effects, psychological capital appeared as a partial mediator of the relationship between the managers’ dark traits and the employees’ basic need satisfaction in the workplace. The theoretical and practical implications of the results, as well as suggestions for future research, are discussed.

The Founder: Dispositional Greed, Showbiz, and the Commercial Determinants of Health

“…This is testable and reflects similar models that have been subject to robust international research-the harmful effects of the dark triad of personality have been the subject of much research in business management, especially in the way that these personality features manifest in toxic leadership within organizations [198,199]. The consequences for the wellbeing of organizational subordinates have been well-described in the literature [200]. According to our framework, the inclusion of dispositional greed should provide similar (negative) observations on wellbeing, beyond organizations per se.…”

Leader’s Machiavellianism and employees’ counterproductive work behavior: testing a moderated mediation model

“…Increased political behavior within an organization can increase perceived abusive supervision by leaders, which increases their anxiety and insecurity (Kacmar et al, 2013). Additionally, leaders' abusive supervision can create a sense of (Elbers et al, 2023). This study highlights the mediating effect of organizational political behavior on the relationship between perceived abusive supervision and Machiavellianism and counterproductive work behavior.…”

“…Therefore, increased organizational political behavior by leaders increases perceived abusive supervision by employees, increasing stress and counterproductive work behavior. Leaders who tend to emphasize their own interests are more adept at using destructive tactics, and Machiavellian leaders use employees to achieve their own goals through, which erodes employees’ trust in leaders and increases counterproductive work behavior ( Elbers et al, 2023 ). This study highlights the mediating effect of organizational political behavior on the relationship between perceived abusive supervision and Machiavellianism and counterproductive work behavior.…”

Energizing Workplace Dynamics: Exploring the Nexus of Relational Energy, Humor, and PsyCap for Enhanced Engagement and Performance

“…Several scholars suggest that psychological capital (PsyCap) goes beyond human and social capital since it enables people to progress from the actual self to the potential self/collective selves [17,18]. PsyCap appears to positively affect several dimensions such as life satisfaction [19], employee basic need satisfaction [20], innovation [21], creativity [22], organizational citizenship, job performance, psychological wellbeing, and organizational commitment [23], as well as reduce turnover [24], anxiety, and cynicism [23]. Moreover, increased levels of PsyCap seem significantly beneficial in COVID-19 lockdown working conditions [25][26][27][28][29][30][31].…”