Multilevel influence of destructive leadership on millennial generation employees’ innovative behavior

I applied affective events theory to explore the multilevel influence of destructive leadership on the innovative behavior of millennial generation employees. Participants were 223 employees from 32 work groups at 3 companies in mainland China. Results showed that both actual group destructive leadership and destructive leadership as perceived by the millennial employees, had a negative influence on innovative behavior via the mediation of employees’ individual affective responses. In addition, the multilevel negative influence of actual group destructive leadership on the millennial employees’ innovative behavior was mediated by group affective tone. In this study, I revealed the multilevel value of affective events in the relationship between destructive leadership and millennial employees’ innovative behavior, and offered insight into how to control the negative effects of destructive leaders and inspire innovative behavior in millennial employees.