Leading from afar, losing from within: how and when laissez-faire leadership fuels quiet quitting behaviours of employees

This study investigates the influence of laissez-faire leadership on employee quiet quitting behaviours. Drawing on the Job Demands–Resources theory and the Stressor-Detachment model, it examines how laissez-faire leadership affects quiet quitting through the mediating roles of role stress and exhaustion, and the moderating role of psychological detachment. Utilizing a four-wave time-lagged study design with one month interval, data were collected from 367 full-time employees from different occupational settings in Ghana. The findings from a regression analysis revealed that laissez-faire leadership indirectly contributed to increasing employees’ quiet quitting behaviours via increasing role stress and exhaustion. However, psychological detachment moderated this relationship such that this indirect effect was weaker among employees who were able to psychologically detach after work. These findings suggest that organizations should prioritize leadership development programs to address the negative effects of laissez-faire leadership and foster a work environment that encourages employees to psychologically detach after work, mitigating stress and exhaustion.