Test of a serial mediation model of Machiavellian leadership among hospitality and tourism employees

Despite the abundance of studies on leadership in the hospitality and tourism literature, employees’ perceptions of dark leadership and its potential outcomes have been subjected to limited empirical inquiries. With this realization, our paper proposes a conceptual model where workplace ostracism and absenteeism mediate the impact of Machiavellian leadership on turnover intentions in a sequential manner. To gauge these relationships , data were gathered from hospitality and tourism employees in the United Kingdom via Prolific, an online data collection platform. Results suggest that workplace ostracism mediates the influence of Machiavellian leadership on turnover intentions. This is also true for absenteeism that acts as a mediator between Machiavellian leadership and proclivity to quit. The empirical data support the hypothesis that workplace ostracism and absenteeism sequentially mediate the impact of Machiavellian leadership on turnover intentions. Contrary to our prediction, Machiavellian leadership does not significantly influence proclivity to quit.