Narcissistic leadership and voice behavior: the role of job stress, traditionality, and trust in leaders

Purpose This study aims to investigate the impact of narcissistic leadership on employee voice behavior from the perspective of job stress, trust in leaders and traditionality in China. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted a survey on 437 employees to assess their narcissistic leadership in Time 1. In Time 2, they measured their job stress, trust in leaders and traditionality. In Time 3, they assessed the voice behavior of these employees. Findings Narcissistic leadership correlates positively with employees’ job stress, which mediates between narcissistic leadership and employee voice behavior. Trust in leaders negatively moderates the correlation between job stress and employee voice behavior, as well as moderates the mediation effect of job stress on the correlation between narcissistic leadership and employee voice behavior. In addition, traditionality positively moderates the correlation between job stress and employee voice behavior, as well as moderates the mediation effect of job stress on the correlation between narcissistic leadership and employee voice behavior. Originality/value This study establishes the impact of narcissistic leadership on employee behavior from the perspective of job stress, trust in leaders and traditionality.