Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Dissertation - Open Access

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)

Advisor(s)

Dr. Kimberly Smith-Jentsch

Second Advisor

Dr. Tracy Kizer

Third Advisor

Dr. John Houston

Keywords

Toxic leadership, employee silence, follower gender, female followers, organizational cynicism, Social Exchange Theory, Leader-Member Exchange Theory

Abstract

Employee silence—the conscious decision of employees to remain silent when they have information and ideas to share that can improve work and companies (Brinsfield, 2013; Tangirala & Ramanujam, 2008; Van Dyne et al., 2003; Morrison & Milliken, 2000)—has aroused great interest as it is increasingly prevalent in modern companies and has enormous potential to harm organizations. Depending on their characteristics and behavior, leaders can soften or deepen employees’ decisions to remain silent. Studies considering the adverse effects of the dark side of leaders on subordinates have gained attention in recent years. However, the impact of toxic leaders—leaders who intentionally inflict intense and prolonged harm on their followers and organizations to benefit themselves—on employees is a fertile field of study. A quantitative national online survey was conducted with 290 employees from various organizations and industries to investigate the relationship between toxic leadership and employees’ decisions to remain silent, mediated by the level of organizational cynicism and moderated by the respondents’ gender. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) were employed to analyze the data. The results showed that toxic leadership had a significant and positive relationship with employees’ decisions not to speak up, and that employees’ organizational cynicism partially explained this relationship. The results also showed that higher-level executives perceive their leaders to be more toxic than middle managerial levels and non-managerial employees. These results did not vary between male and female followers, indicating that the intensity of the relationship between toxic leadership and employee silence was the same across genders. The results reinforced the need for strategies that broaden leaders’ awareness of their impact on employees and support them in enhancing their leadership competencies. Organizations must be vigilant for signs of toxicity within their leadership teams through effective research or whistleblowing channels that enable employees to report inappropriate behavior by leaders.

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