The Impact of Despotic Leadership on Emotional Exhaustion: Mediating Role of Rumination and Moderating Role of Organizational Justice

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Hailey College of Commerce, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan

2 University of Buraimi, Lahore, Pakistan

3 University of Okara, Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

The aim of the current study is to investigate the impact of despotic leadership on emotional exhaustion with the mediating role of rumination and the moderating role of organizational justice. In this study, data were collected from the sales force of the banking industry through a questionnaire, while 284 valid responses were analyzed.  The findings of the study reveal that despotic leadership has a positive effect on emotional exhaustion, while rumination partially mediates this relationship. Furthermore, organizational justice reduces the impact of despotic leadership on rumination. This study is novel in examining the mediating role of rumination between despotic leadership and emotional exhaustion. Additionally, the study also investigates the moderating role of organizational justice between despotic leadership and rumination, noting that there is a dearth of academic literature on the aforementioned associations. The conservation of resources theory supports the study findings.

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Main Subjects


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