The Impact of Toxic Leadership on Counterproductive Work Behavior: The Mediating Role of Workplace Ostracism and the Moderating Role of Coping Humor

This study examines how toxic leadership shapes counterproductive work behavior (CWB) through workplace ostracism and whether employees’ coping humor weakens that pathway. Using a cross-sectional survey of N = 250 employees from multiple private organizations and analyzing the data with PLS-SEM, we find: (1) toxic leadership strongly predicts workplace ostracism; (2) ostracism, in turn, predicts CWB; (3) ostracism mediates the link between toxic leadership and CWB; and (4) coping humor moderates the ostracism → CWB path, such that higher humor relates to lower CWB under ostracism. Reliability and validity thresholds were met (α and CR ≥ 0.87; AVE ≥ 0.62). The model explains substantial variance in ostracism (R² = 0.652) and CWB (R² = 0.787). Results suggest organizations should curb toxic leadership, monitor social exclusion, and cultivate adaptive humor to protect well-being and performance.