Despotic leadership and workplace status of textile workers in Pakistan: A moderated mediation model

We explored how despotic leadership influences employees’ workplace status, incorporating ingratiatory behavior as a mediator and psychological capital as a moderator. Data were gathered from 521 employees in the textile sector in Pakistan. Contrary to our expectation, the results revealed a positive influence of despotic leadership on employees’ workplace status. In contrast, despotic leadership was positively related to ingratiatory behavior, and ingratiatory behavior was positively related to employees’ workplace status. Further, ingratiatory behavior mediated the relationship between despotic leadership and employees’ workplace status. A moderating effect analysis showed that the relationship between despotic leadership and ingratiatory behavior weakened when psychological capital was higher (vs. lower). These findings highlight the intricate dynamics of workplace interactions, demonstrating how ingratiatory behavior in response to despotic leadership can elevate employee status, while psychological capital can buffer the negative effects of such leadership, fostering resilience and adaptive behavior among employees.