Linking despotic leadership to employee lateness and early departure: the mediating role of affective commitment

Abstract Despotic leadership, a dark side of leadership, negatively affects employees and organizations due to its unethical nature. Drawing on social exchange theory’s prediction, the study analysed the effects of despotic leadership on employee lateness and the intention to leave work early, with a particular focus on the mediating role of affective commitment in this relationship. A quantitative approach was adopted, with 153 respondents selected through a simple random sampling technique. Data were collected using standardized questionnaires and analysed using descriptive statistics and linear regression, employing SPSS version 27 and PROCESS Macro as analytical tools. The findings indicate that despotic leadership has a significant positive influence on the intention to leave work early. Despotic leadership also had significantly and positively increased employee lateness to work. Furthermore, affective commitment was found to positively mediate the relationship between despotic leadership and both lateness and the intention to leave work early. The study suggests that organizations should work to reduce despotic leadership behaviours and promote alternative leadership styles, such as democratic, ethical, and transformational leadership, while nurturing a collaborative and supportive culture.