When Good Leadership Matters: Servant Leadership's Role in Mitigating Negative Employee Reactions

This study examines how servant leadership can mitigate the harmful effects of victim justice sensitivity on counterproductive work behaviour, with coworker envy acting as a key emotional mechanism. Drawing on Conservation of Resources (COR) theory and Social Comparison Theory, a moderated mediation model was developed and tested using survey data collected from employees across multiple organizations in Pakistan. Structural equation modelling was used to evaluate the hypothesized relationships. The results indicate that coworker envy significantly mediates the relationship between victim justice sensitivity and counterproductive work behaviour, highlighting envy as a central affective pathway through which fairness concerns translate into negative workplace actions. Moreover, servant leadership functions as an effective moderator by weakening the positive association between victim justice sensitivity and coworker envy, thereby reducing the likelihood of unproductive behaviours. Although the cross-sectional research design limits causal conclusions, the findings advance current understanding by demonstrating that justice sensitivity can trigger harmful workplace outcomes and that servant leadership offers a meaningful buffering effect. Practically, organizations should incorporate servant leadership principles into managerial training to reduce envy-driven reactions and foster healthier interpersonal dynamics. This study makes a unique contribution to the literature by integrating two major theoretical frameworks and empirically validating a moderated mediation model that links justice sensitivity, envy, and workplace behaviour.