No shame, no glory: when and why leader aggressive humor promotes employees’ promotive and prohibitive voices

Purpose Building upon appraisal theories of emotions, this study aims to examine the relationship between leader aggressive humor (LAH) and employees’ promotive and prohibitive voices, with a focus on the mediating role of shame and the moderating role of impression management motive (IMM). Design/methodology/approach Data from a scenario experiment and a two-phase field study involving 440 full-time participants in China consistently corroborate the validity of the hypotheses. Findings LAH positively predicts employees’ shame. Employees’ shame mediates the relationship between LAH and employees’ promotive and prohibitive voices. Employees’ IMM intensifies the correlation between employees’ shame and their two forms of voice behaviors, as well as the indirect correlation between LAH and both forms of employees’ voice behaviors through employees’ shame. Practical implications The findings provide insights into how and when LAH might be effectively leveraged to achieve practical benefits. Originality/value This study challenges the notion that LAH is solely detrimental and sheds light on its potential positive outcomes by elucidating its underlying mechanisms and boundary conditions.