How Machiavellianism shapes the effect of despotic leadership on creativity via status striving

Despotic leadership drain, dominates, and demoralizes, yet some employees resist through strategic adaptation. Drawing on Conservation of resources (COR) theory, we propose that these coping responses to despotic leadership vary by individual differences, particularly Machiavellianism. We examine status striving as a resource-investment strategy through which employees can convert toxic contexts into opportunities for creativity and mobility. In Study-1 a multi-wave survey design (N = 489) and an experimental study (2 × 2 factorial design N = 276), show that varied despotic leadership context and adopted Machiavellian motives replicated the pattern; particularly in high despotic conditions reported higher status striving and status striving was positively associated with creativity. Across studies the indirect effects of despotic leadership on creativity via status striving were stronger among high Machiavellian employees. The results suggest that, under despotism, some employees deploy status-seeking efforts to protect themselves from threats and signal value through creative contributions. By integrating COR theory with dark leadership and motivation literatures, this study clarifies when and why employees might respond to destructive leaders in adaptive ways. We discuss implications for leadership development, personnel selection, and theoretical models of coping under despotic authorities.