The Dark Side of Management and Workplace Violence: A Model Proposal Within the Framework of Social Learning and Social Exchange Theories

This study aims to present an integrated conceptual model illustrating how managers possessing "Dark Triad" personality traits-Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and Psychopathy-trigger intra-organizational violence and counterproductive work behaviors. Grounded in a comprehensive literature review, the proposed framework elucidates the transmission and escalation of manager-induced workplace violence through two prominent theoretical lenses: Social Learning Theory and Social Exchange Theory. Within the context of Social Learning Theory, employees perceive toxic leaders as role models, observing and replicating their aggressive, manipulative behaviors, which eventually normalizes a culture of violence across the organization. Concurrently, from the perspective of Social Exchange Theory, employees subjected to psychological violence or systemic injustice by their superiors operate on the principle of "negative reciprocity" to restore cognitive and social equilibrium. This psychological shift drives employees toward counterproductive work behaviors (CWB) and negative acts, such as sabotage, organizational retaliation, and knowledge hiding, directed at either the manager or the organization itself. Consequently, this study emphasizes that legal audits and traditional compliance metrics are insufficient to mitigate workplace violence and corporate misconduct; instead, personality assessments must be strategically deployed as screening filters within managerial selection and promotion processes.