The impact of perceived negative supervisor gossip on employee emotional exhaustion: a moderated mediation model of impression management and task interdependence
Negative gossip is a common behavior in the workplace. However, little research focuses on the employee perception of negative supervisor gossip in workplace. This study proposes that employee perceived negative supervisor gossip is a stressor that may lead employees to try coping using impression m...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Public Health |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1575259/full |
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| author | Sheng Cheng Yumei Wang Chien-Chih Kuo |
| author_facet | Sheng Cheng Yumei Wang Chien-Chih Kuo |
| author_sort | Sheng Cheng |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Negative gossip is a common behavior in the workplace. However, little research focuses on the employee perception of negative supervisor gossip in workplace. This study proposes that employee perceived negative supervisor gossip is a stressor that may lead employees to try coping using impression management tactics but ultimately to experience emotional exhaustion. Data were collected from 406 full-time Chinese employees and assessed with a time-lagged design. The results show that employee perceived negative supervisor gossip has a significant positive relationship with impression management, and impression management is positively correlated to emotional exhaustion. Furthermore, impression management mediates the relationship between perceived negative supervisor gossip and emotional exhaustion. Finally, task interdependence moderates the direct and indirect effects among perceived negative supervisor gossip, impression management, and emotional exhaustion. This study also discusses the theoretical and practical implications for managers. Specifically, supervisors should minimize the frequency of negative gossip behavior, encourage self-actualization among employees, and provide employees with more collaborative tasks. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d46723b617654c8db28f6965d24b27fe |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2296-2565 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Public Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-d46723b617654c8db28f6965d24b27fe2025-08-20T03:06:39ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652025-04-011310.3389/fpubh.2025.15752591575259The impact of perceived negative supervisor gossip on employee emotional exhaustion: a moderated mediation model of impression management and task interdependenceSheng Cheng0Yumei Wang1Chien-Chih Kuo2School of Business, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou, ChinaSchool of Business, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou, ChinaDepartment of Psychology, National Chengchi University, Taipei, TaiwanNegative gossip is a common behavior in the workplace. However, little research focuses on the employee perception of negative supervisor gossip in workplace. This study proposes that employee perceived negative supervisor gossip is a stressor that may lead employees to try coping using impression management tactics but ultimately to experience emotional exhaustion. Data were collected from 406 full-time Chinese employees and assessed with a time-lagged design. The results show that employee perceived negative supervisor gossip has a significant positive relationship with impression management, and impression management is positively correlated to emotional exhaustion. Furthermore, impression management mediates the relationship between perceived negative supervisor gossip and emotional exhaustion. Finally, task interdependence moderates the direct and indirect effects among perceived negative supervisor gossip, impression management, and emotional exhaustion. This study also discusses the theoretical and practical implications for managers. Specifically, supervisors should minimize the frequency of negative gossip behavior, encourage self-actualization among employees, and provide employees with more collaborative tasks.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1575259/fullnegative supervisor gossipimpression managementemotional exhaustiontask interdependencemoderated mediation model |
| spellingShingle | Sheng Cheng Yumei Wang Chien-Chih Kuo The impact of perceived negative supervisor gossip on employee emotional exhaustion: a moderated mediation model of impression management and task interdependence Frontiers in Public Health negative supervisor gossip impression management emotional exhaustion task interdependence moderated mediation model |
| title | The impact of perceived negative supervisor gossip on employee emotional exhaustion: a moderated mediation model of impression management and task interdependence |
| title_full | The impact of perceived negative supervisor gossip on employee emotional exhaustion: a moderated mediation model of impression management and task interdependence |
| title_fullStr | The impact of perceived negative supervisor gossip on employee emotional exhaustion: a moderated mediation model of impression management and task interdependence |
| title_full_unstemmed | The impact of perceived negative supervisor gossip on employee emotional exhaustion: a moderated mediation model of impression management and task interdependence |
| title_short | The impact of perceived negative supervisor gossip on employee emotional exhaustion: a moderated mediation model of impression management and task interdependence |
| title_sort | impact of perceived negative supervisor gossip on employee emotional exhaustion a moderated mediation model of impression management and task interdependence |
| topic | negative supervisor gossip impression management emotional exhaustion task interdependence moderated mediation model |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1575259/full |
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