How narcissistic leadership impacts happiness at work: the role of psychological contract breach and coworker exchange

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine how narcissistic leadership affects employees' happiness at work in the Chinese hospitality industry. Design/methodology/approach A mixed-method approach was adopted, combining a scenario-based experiment and a field survey. Study 1 involved a scenario-based experiment with 200 hotel interns. Study 2 conducted a three-wave survey with 475 employees from four-star and five-star hotels in Southwest China. Findings The results indicated that narcissistic leadership reduced employees' happiness at work through the mediating role of psychological contract breach. Meanwhile, coworker exchange moderated the negative relationship between narcissistic leadership and happiness at work. Originality/value By uncovering psychological contract breach as the mechanism through which narcissistic leadership erodes happiness at work, and by showing that coworker exchange buffers the effect of narcissistic leadership on happiness at work, this study provides novel theoretical insight with direct implications for human resource management in the hospitality industry.