Subordinate self-serving attribution of leader respect and employee interpersonal deviance

Abstract

Subordinate self-serving attribution of leader respect (SSALR) refers to the extent to which employees attribute leader respect to intrinsic personal factors, such as their ability and contribution to the organization, rather than extrinsic factors, such as leadership or luck. Based on attribution theory, we proposed that subordinate SSALR triggers psychological entitlement, inducing subordinate interpersonal deviance. In Study 1 (n = 139) and Study 2 (n = 200) we conducted experiments to investigate the association between subordinate SSALR and subordinate psychological entitlement, and, by extension, interpersonal deviance through psychological entitlement. Empirical results showed that subordinate SSALR positively correlated with subordinate psychological entitlement. Additionally, subordinate psychological entitlement was positively associated with subordinate interpersonal deviance and mediates the relationship between subordinate SSALR and subordinate interpersonal deviance. This study's contribution lies in testing, for the first time, the influence of subordinate SSALR on subordinate interpersonal deviance, which has important theoretical and practical significance.