Aim: This study tested the (a) impact of exploitative leadership on psychological distress of nurses via negative affectivity and (b) moderating role of psychological detachment from work between exploitative leadership and negative affectivity.
Background: Destructive leadership, particularly exploitative leadership, has been less studied earlier in nursing research. Additionally, underlying mechanisms and boundary conditions that exist between exploitative leadership and negative employee outcomes were also missing in the nursing literature.
Methods: This is a quantitative study in which temporally segregated data were collected from nurses (N = 231) working in Pakistani hospitals through questionnaires.
Results: Negative affectivity mediates the relationship between exploitative leadership and psychological distress among nurses, and psychological detachment from work weakens exploitative leadership and negative affectivity relationship.
Conclusions: Exploitative leadership yields negative employee outcomes in the form of negative affectivity and psychological distress; however, these negative outcomes can be reduced through psychological detachment from work.
Implications for nursing management: It is among the pioneer studies to unveil the exploitative side of leadership and its negative consequences for nurses. Psychological distress among nurses can be reduced by discouraging leader exploitative behaviour. Nurses could utilize psychological detachment from work as a tool to reduce negative outcomes of leader exploitative behaviour.
Keywords: affect; leadership; nurse managers; nurses; psychological distress.
© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.