Buffering role of resilience: exploring the likely impact of exploitative leadership on workplace deviance behavior via emotional exhaustion

PURPOSE: The dynamic nature of the current corporate world has made employee reactions to leadership crucial to the sustainability of organizations. Emotional exhaustion (EE) that leads to deviant behaviors (DB) in the workplace is promoted by exploitative leaders (EL) who do not consider the needs of employees but pursue personal benefits. Nonetheless, more resilient employees are better positioned to cushion these negative impacts. Thus, grounded in conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study aims to examine how EL promotes DB at work, considering EE as a mediating variable and Resilience (RB) as a moderator. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: It was quantitative cross-sectional research using a survey technique to gather data from 385 middle- and lower-level employees of hospitals. The response rate was 79%, and data were analyzed using SPSS. The structural equation modeling analysis was also used using SMART PLS 4. FINDINGS: Findings of this study based on male responses (72%) and female responses (27.3%) revealed that the effect of EL on deviance (β = 0.477, p < 0.01) and EE (β = 0.510, p < 0.01) is significant. Meanwhile, EE is a strong predictor of deviance (β = 0.428, p < 0.01), and resilience buffers the effect as a moderator (β = 0.104, p < 0.006) between EL and exhaustion. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: Thus, exploitative behaviors and employee resilience as a way to buffer counterproductive actions are identified as key areas of focus for reducing such negative actions. It highlights the negative side of leadership, revealing that EE explains the relationship between leadership and negative outcomes, and that the leader's psychological resources can reduce these negative effects.