Cheating from dominating: An investigation of how leaders’ dominant behavior elicits employee cheating

Abstract

While prior research suggests that leaders’ dominant behavior effectively enhances organizational effectiveness and is necessary for navigating today’s uncertain and competitive business environments, its hidden costs—rooted in control, intimidation, and coercion—have received limited attention. In this study, we argue that leaders’ dominant behavior can serve as a workplace stressor that leads to employees’ defensive yet covert responses. Drawing on the transactional model of stress, we develop a serial mediation model in which leaders’ dominant behavior undermines employees’ psychological well-being (i.e., psychological empowerment), subsequently heightens negative emotions (i.e., workplace anxiety), and ultimately provokes employees’ cheating as a discreet coping strategy for releasing workplace anxiety. Furthermore, we predict that when coworker support is available, employees are less likely to adopt cheating as a defensive coping strategy. Results from three field survey studies—including two three-wave studies and one two-source, four-wave study—provide consistent support for our model. The conclusions drawn from this study provide valuable insights for both organizational leaders and HR professionals seeking to recognize and manage the hidden costs associated with leaders’ dominant behavior.