The impact of humble leadership on employee counterproductive work behavior: a dual perspective of motivation and emotion

Purpose The present study integrates self-determination theory and affective events theory to develop a dual-path model and a chain mediation model illustrating how humble leadership influences employee counterproductive work behavior. Design/methodology/approach This study employs a three-wave longitudinal survey design to collect matched data from 350 employees and 92 direct supervisors. Hierarchical regression analysis, along with bootstrapping methods, was employed for empirical testing. Findings The results reveal that a significant negative correlation exists between humble leadership and employee counterproductive work behavior. Thriving at work and frustration at work respectively mediate the negative relationship between humble leadership and employee counterproductive work behavior. Additionally, employee empathic concern weakens the indirect negative effects of humble leadership on employee counterproductive work behavior. Originality/value Current research on humble leadership predominantly emphasizes its role in promoting positive employee behaviors, while relatively neglecting its potential efficacy in inhibiting negative employee behaviors. The findings of this study elucidate the mechanisms and boundary conditions through which humble leadership inhibits employee counterproductive work behavior, enriching theoretical research on humble leadership and counterproductive work behavior, while providing managerial implications for organizations to control and reduce such detrimental employee behaviors.