Authoritarian leadership and employees’ unsafe behaviors: The mediating roles of organizational cynicism and work alienation

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between authoritarian leadership and employees’ unsafe behaviors, and the mediating roles of organizational cynicism and work alienation. Questionnaires were distributed to first-line production employees, and structural equation modeling was employed to test the hypotheses. The results showed that organizational cynicism mediated the relationship between authoritarian leadership and employees’ unsafe behaviors. Furthermore, authoritarian leadership was related to employees’ unsafe behaviors through organizational cynicism first and then work alienation. The theoretical implications of these findings for advancing the research and practical approaches to reduce employees’ unsafe behaviors are discussed.