Money talks in working behavior: impact of unethical leadership on psychological empowerment, attitude towards doing well, and deviant work behavior

This empirical investigation examines the mediating mechanisms through which unethical leadership influences employee work deviant behavior in the healthcare sector, specifically focusing on psychological empowerment and performance attitudes as potential mediating variables. Furthermore, the research explores the moderating role of financial job dependency in the relationship between unethical leadership and employee work deviant behavior. Utilizing a systematic stratified sampling methodology, data were collected from 384 manager-employee dyads within healthcare organizations in developing countries. The results demonstrate that both psychological empowerment and performance attitudes serve as significant mediating mechanisms in the relationship between unethical leadership and work deviant behavior. Additionally, the findings reveal that financial job dependency moderates the relationship between unethical leadership and psychological empowerment, although no significant moderating effect was observed in the relationship between unethical leadership and employee workplace behaviors. These findings contribute to the existing literature on organizational behavior and healthcare management while offering practical implications for healthcare administrators seeking to mitigate workplace deviance. The results provide empirically-grounded insights that can inform the development of targeted interventions and management strategies within healthcare organizations.