PurposeThe purpose of this study is to build a link between narcissistic supervision and employees' change-oriented organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs). On the basis of the social dynamics of state paranoia theory, the study examines the relationship between narcissistic supervision and employees' change-oriented OCBs, and explores how this relationship is mediated by psychological safety and affective organizational commitment.Design/methodology/approachUsing data collected from a sample of 183 employee–leader dyads from a technology company in China, the study examines the mediating effects of psychological safety and affective organizational commitment on the relationship between narcissistic supervision and employees' change-oriented OCBs. Structural equation modeling is used to analyze the data.FindingsThe results indicate that narcissistic supervision has a negative effect on psychological safety and affective organizational commitment; psychological safety mediates the relationship between narcissistic supervision and affective organizational commitment; and affective organizational commitment mediates the relationship between psychological safety and employees' change-oriented OCBs. The results also show that the negative effect of narcissistic supervision on employees' change-oriented OCBs is mediated by psychological safety and subsequently affective organizational commitment.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature by linking narcissistic supervision and employees' change-oriented OCBs and suggesting that psychological safety and affective organizational commitment are two critical mediators of this relationship. This study not only advances research on the “dark side” of narcissistic supervision, but also sheds light on the underlying mechanism of narcissistic supervision and employees' change-oriented OCBs from the psychological and emotional perspectives.

Drawing on social cognitive theory and social information processing theory, we developed a moderated mediation model in which moral disengagement was theorised as a unique mechanism to explain why employees engage in unethical behaviours after performing illegitimate tasks. Ethical human resource management (HRM) was proposed as a boundary condition that influences this mechanism. We tested the model using time‐lagged supervisor–subordinate matched data. The results showed that moral disengagement mediated the relationship between illegitimate tasks and unethical behaviours, and that this relationship was weaker when ethical HRM was perceived to be high level rather than low level. Thus, our hypotheses were supported. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Considering the destructive effects of counterproductive work behavior (CWB) in the workplace, scholars have put much effort into revealing its antecedents. The purpose of this paper is to examine how Machiavellianism helps mitigate the effect of role conflict on CWB in China. Using data collected from three phases, this research revealed that role conflict had a positive effect on CWB via emotional exhaustion. Machiavellianism moderated the relationship between role conflict and emotional exhaustion, such that this relationship got weaker for employees with higher Machiavellianism. Furthermore, Machiavellianism moderated the relationship between role conflict and CWB via emotional exhaustion, as such, it became weaker for employees with high Machiavellianism.

Narcissism is a personality trait characterized by an inflated self-image, a strong sense of psychological superiority and entitlement, and a low level of empathy. As narcissism has a substantial impact on employees' work quality, happiness, satisfaction, and interpersonal relationships, employee narcissism has become an important topic of research among scholars and management practitioners, who have called for further research on the behavior of narcissistic employees in the process of interpersonal interaction. However, research on the impact of employee narcissism on prosocial behavior has reached inconsistent conclusions; thus, the mechanisms by which employee narcissism affects prosocial behavior need to be further explored. To fill this

PurposeThis study aims to advance the bottom-line mentality (BLM) literature by drawing on goal-setting theory to examine the positive effects of supervisor BLM on employees' behavior.Design/methodology/approachThe authors collected survey data from 291 full-time employees from various Chinese organizations at three different points in time.FindingsThe authors found that supervisor BLM and employees' collectivism orientation interacted to influence employees' bottom-line goal commitment such that the positive relationship between supervisor BLM and employees' bottom-line goal commitment was stronger when employees' collectivism orientation was high rather than low. Furthermore, they found that employees' collectivism orientation moderated the positive indirect effects of supervisor BLM on employees' work effort and helping behavior via bottom-line goal commitment such that the indirect effects were stronger when employees had a high rather than a low collectivism orientation.Originality/valueThe authors explored the “bridge side” of supervisor BLM on employees' behavior, especially after being moderated by collectivism orientation. Our results can help managers develop a comprehensive understanding of BLM.