Influence of self-serving leadership on employees’ organizational deviance: a multilevel moderated mediation model

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the influence of self-serving leadership on employees’ organizational deviance and its internal mechanism. Design/methodology/approach Through the data collected from 300 supervisor–employee dyads of five large enterprises in China, this research uses multilevel structural equation model to test the proposal hypotheses. Findings Results show that there is a positive relationship between self-serving leadership and employees’ organizational deviance, and ego depletion plays a mediating role between them. Moreover, this research also found that the relationship between self-serving leadership and ego depletion and the indirect effect of self-serving leadership on employees’ organizational deviance through ego depletion are negatively moderated by power distance orientation. Originality/value This study found a new antecedent variable of employees’ organizational deviance-self-serving leadership, and based on the ego depletion theory, deeply reveals the internal mechanism of self-serving leadership influencing employees’ organizational deviance, which has some enlightening significance for relevant theoretical research and management practice. In addition, this study also has unique advantages in data collection and analysis methods.