Generalized reciprocity and negative reciprocity have been demonstrated to influence employees’ psychological states and outcomes differently. Drawing upon social exchange theory and emotion regulation theory, we develop a model that specifies whether and how generalized reciprocity and negative reciprocity influence employees’ task performance. A cross-sectional survey study (N = 584) reveals that generalized reciprocity is positively related to task performance, whereas negative reciprocity is adversely related to task performance, and both of these relationships are mediated by social exchange. Interestingly, the findings also indicate that emotional labor moderates the associations between generalized reciprocity and social exchange and between negative reciprocity and social exchange. Specifically, individuals with high deep acting or low surface acting can experience higher social exchange after perceiving generalized reciprocity, whereas individuals with high surface acting or low deep acting can experience lower social exchange after perceiving negative reciprocity. These results provide significant implications for academic research and managerial practice.

The existing empirical evidence on the relationship between time pressure and innovative behavior is paradoxical. An intriguing yet unresolved question is “When does time pressure promote or prohibit innovative behavior, and how?” We theorize that the paradoxical effect of time pressure on innovative behavior can be elucidated by the moderating role of stress mindset, and we also explore the mediating role of thriving at work. Our research involved a field study of 390 research and development personnel from eight enterprises and research institutes in China to test our proposed model. Results indicated that the stress-is-debilitating mindset negatively moderated the association between time pressure and thriving at work, while the stress-is-enhancing mindset positively moderated the link between time pressure and thriving at work. Furthermore, the findings demonstrated that the stress-is-debilitating mindset negatively moderated the indirect impact of time pressure on employees’ innovative behavior through thriving at work, while the stress-is-enhancing mindset positively moderated the indirect effect of time pressure on employees’ innovative behavior through thriving at work. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are also discussed.

Objective: This study developed and validated ethical leadership and deviant normative conduct model through mediating variables of trait affect as a psychological process and subordinate voice behavior. In addition, we also tested the moderating influence of social support in the association between subordinate voice behavior and deviant normative conduct. Method: The sample of the study was comprised of 258 pairs of employees and their direct leaders from six different organizations in China. We performed a structural equation model and hierarchical linear tests to check the hypothesized relationships. Results: The results indicated that ethical leadership has a positive impact on positive affect and negative impact on negative affect. Positive affect and negative affect have a differential positive and negative influence on subordinate voice behavior that, as a result, has a positive impact on organizational citizenship behavior and negative influence on counterproductive work behavior. This study also confirmed the role of social support as an enhancer and suppressor of deviant normative conduct when social support interacts with subordinate voice behavior. Conclusion: Our study uniquely applied social learning and conservation of resource theories to ethical leadership and normatively (un)desirable conduct at work, which have important implications for theory and practice. KEY POINTS What is already known about this topic: (1) Ethical leadership has a positively direct effect on employee normatively desirable conduct. (2) Ethical leadership has a negatively direct effect on employee normatively undesirable conduct. (3) A single mediating mechanism exists until now in the relationship between ethical leadership and normative conduct, which are explored individually. What this topic adds: (1) Distinctively integrates and empirically validates ethical leadership and deviant normatively (un)desirable conduct of subordinates at work relationships, simultaneously. (2) Synthesized psychological processes (operationalized as trait affect) and challenging behaviour (operationalized as voice behaviour) as underlying serial mechanisms. (3) Recognized the role of social support as a crucial enhancer and suppressor simultaneously.

Although the literature has shown that generalized reciprocity and negative reciprocity as exchange norms can significantly influence employees’ outcomes, knowledge about how and when the two types of norms influence employees’ well-being is limited. Based on social exchange theory and self-determination theory, we built and investigated a model by conducting a large questionnaire survey with 551 employees and managers. The results of the structural equation model supported our hypotheses. First, generalized reciprocity is positively related to well-being, and negative reciprocity is negatively related to well-being. Both intrinsic motivation and perceived organizational obstruction can meditate roles in the above relationships. Moreover, strength use can enhance the relationship between generalized reciprocity and intrinsic motivation, and it can also weaken the relationship between negative reciprocity and perceived organizational obstruction. Our research represents a significant step towards better understanding the work-related implications of imbalanced reciprocity, highlighting the destructive influence of negative reciprocity on employees’ well-being.

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