A social exchange perspective on supervisors' Dark Triad and subordinates' counterproductive work behaviors: psychological contract fulfillment as a boundary condition

This study aims to examine the effects of supervisors' Dark Triad on subordinates' counterproductive work behaviors, differentiating between counterproductive work behaviors toward the organization and those toward individuals. Drawing from the social exchange perspective, psychological contract fulfillment is introduced as a boundary condition to mitigate these adverse effects. Data collected from China's banking sector largely supports the proposed theoretical framework and hypotheses. The findings revealed that all three dimensions of supervisors' Dark Triad-narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism-adversely influence subordinates' counterproductive work behaviors toward both the organization and individuals. Additionally, psychological contract fulfillment moderates the relationship between supervisors' Dark Triad and subordinates' counterproductive work behaviors toward the organization, buffering its adversely impact. However, no significant moderating effect was found for counterproductive work behaviors toward individuals.