Leader psychopathy and organizational deviance. The mediating role of psychological safety and the moderating role of moral disengagement

• Pages: 197-213
• Date: 25 July 2019
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJWHM-12-2018-0154
• Published date: 25 July 2019
• Author: Hakan Erkutlu,Jamel Chafra
• Subject Matter: Health & social care,Healthcare management,HR & organizational behaviour,Human resource policy,Employee welfare

Leader psychopathy and

organizational deviance

The mediating role of psychological safety and

the moderating role of moral disengagement

Hakan Erkutlu

Department of Economics and Administrative Sciences,

Nevsehir University, Nevsehir, Turkey, and

Jamel Chafra

School of Applied Technology and Management,

Bilkent Universitesi, Ankara, Turkey

Abstract

Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationship between leader psychopathy and

organizational deviance. In particular, the authors introduce employee’s psychological safety as the mediator.

Furthermore, the moderating role of moral disengagement in the relationship between leader psychopathy

and organizational deviance is also considered.

Design/methodology/approach –The data of this study include 611 certified nurses from 9 university

hospitals in Turkey. The proposed model was tested by using hierarchical multiple regression analysis.

Findings –The results of this study supported the positive effect of leader psychopathy on organizational

deviance along with the mediating effect of employee’s psychological safety. Furthermore, when the level of

moral disengagement is low, the relationship between leader psychopathy and organizational deviance is

weak, whereas the effect is strong when the level of moral disengagement is high.

Practical implications –The findings of the study recommend that administrators in the healthcare

industry ought to be sensitive in treating their subordinates, since it will result in positive organizational

relationship,which, subsequently,will certainly reduce organizationaldeviance. Furthermore,they have to pay

more focus on the buffering role of moral disengagement for all those subordinates with high distrust and

displaying organizational deviance.

Originality/value –This paper contributes to the literature about workplace deviance by uncovering the

relational mechanism between leader psychopathy and employee organizational deviance. Furthermore, it

includes practical assistance to healthcare employees and their leaders interested in building trust, increasing

leader–employee relationship and reducing organizational deviance.

Keywords Organizational deviance, Psychological safety, Moral disengagement, Leader psychopathy

Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction

Organizational deviance initiated by employees targeting employers (Bennett and Robinson,

2003; Lian et al., 2012), continues to have a harmful influence on organizations worldwide.

Employee robbery is rising yearly, with costs associated with scams increasing 40 percent

from 2005 to 2007 (Needleman, 2008). Furthermore, unlawful web surfing has been

approximated to cost up to $600m in lost efficiency yearly (Taylor, 2007). Organizational

deviance also derives a significant human being cost. In fact, employee performance, morale

and well-being are affected by such deviant behaviors (Robinson and Greenberg, 1998).

Logically, these costs are a considerable affair to organizations, and researchers have

consequently concentrated on the antecedents of organizational deviance. In particular,

several authorshave suggested that leader’s attributes, behaviorsand attitudes, or “followers’

perceptions of the degree to which their leaders be a part of the sustained display of hostile

verbal and non-verbalbehaviors”(Tepper, 2000, p. 178), is definitely an initial reason behind

organizational deviance (Tepper et al., 2009).

International Journal of Workplace

Health Management

Vol. 12 No. 4, 2019

pp. 197-213

© Emerald PublishingLimited

1753-8351

DOI 10.1108/IJWHM-12-2018-0154

Received 3 December 2018

Revised 3 March 2019

Accepted 19 March 2019

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

www.emeraldinsight.com/1753-8351.htm

197

Leader

psychopathy and

organizational

deviance

Organizational deviance is influenced by the leader’s traits, behaviors and attitudes

(Berry et al., 2007). As an attribute, leader psychopathy is a trait seen as a being anti-social,

disagreeable and having uncooperative behavior (Garcia et al., 2017). Leader psychopathy

greatly affects psychological exhaustion and job satisfaction (Volmer et al., 2016). In this study,

we focus on the process where leader psychopathy designs significant follower outcomes such as

organizational deviance and psychological safety. Yet, despite psychopathy’s long-standing

existence in psychology and psychiatry literature, related research in broad management and

applied psychology literature continues to be in its infancy. To our knowledge, no research

uncovered how leader psychopathy relates to employees’organizational deviance, even though

leadership is one of the very most important predictors of organizational deviance (Berry et al.,

2007); thus, the first goal of the study is to handle this very untapped concern.

In addition, this study investigates moral disengagement as the boundary condition for

leader psychopathy, i.e. the psychological safety relationship. Existing theories and research

indicate that leader traits, behaviors and followers’individual difference variables, such as

locus of control, proactive personality, political skill and moral disengagement, significantly

impact employeeorganizational deviance(e.g. Berry et al., 2007). Prior researchersemphasized

that moral disengagement can be an important way to obtain unwanted outcomes, such as

organizational cynicism, workplace silence and deviance (Moore et al.,2012).Yet,scholars

never considered the interactive effects of leader psychopathy and moral disengagement on

workplace deviance; this concerns how leadership and organizational members have the

ability to lower employee organizational deviance.

This research is supposed to contribute to the prevailing literature in several ways. First, our

research looks to fill the data gap regarding the link between leader psychopathy and

organizational deviance. Earlier research upholds that leadership attributes, behaviors,

attitudes and leader–follower relationships are among the most crucial factors influencing

organizational deviance. Second, determining how psychological safety decreases employees’

organizational deviance has received little empirical attention in workplace deviance-related

literature (Liu et al., 2018). The present research uses social exchange theory (Blau, 1964), as the

primary theoretical focus, and requires a step further to identify the mediating effect of

psychological safety on the leader psychopathy-organizational deviance link. The results could

progress our knowledge of the processes where leader psychopathy impacts workplace

deviance. Finally, this study contributes to the literature by looking at how leader psychopathy

reduces employees’organizational deviance via psychological safety, which, subsequently,

accounts for the moderating effect of moral disengagement. Figure 1 summarizes the theoretical

model that led to this research.

2. Literature review and hypotheses

2.1 Leader psychopathy and organizational deviance

Psychopaths are individuals seen to have inadequate self-control, impaired affect regulation

and high impulsivity. Psychopaths pursue self-enrichment. According to Boddy (2006),

Leader

psychopathy

Psychological

safety

Organizational

deviance

Moral

disengagement

Figure 1.

Proposed moderated-

mediation model

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