Explaining a Structural Model of Employees’ Job Alienation Based on Destructive Leadership, Organizational Silence, and Emotional Exhaustion with the Mediating Role of Organizational Distrust
Keywords:
Job alienation, destructive leadership, organizational silence, emotional exhaustion, organizational distrust, structural equation modelingAbstract
Objective: This study aimed to explain the structural model of employees’ job alienation based on destructive leadership, organizational silence, and emotional exhaustion, with the mediating role of organizational distrust.
Methodology: This applied study used a descriptive-correlational design based on structural equation modeling. The statistical population consisted of employees working in governmental and private organizations in Tehran, from whom 384 participants were selected through multistage cluster sampling. Data were collected using standardized questionnaires measuring job alienation, destructive leadership, organizational silence, emotional exhaustion, and organizational distrust. Data analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficients, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling through SPSS and AMOS.
Findings: The results showed that the proposed structural model had an acceptable fit to the data, with χ²/df = 2.48, GFI = 0.91, CFI = 0.95, IFI = 0.95, TLI = 0.94, RMSEA = 0.062, and SRMR = 0.049. Destructive leadership, organizational silence, and emotional exhaustion had significant positive direct effects on organizational distrust. Organizational distrust also had a significant positive direct effect on job alienation. Moreover, destructive leadership, organizational silence, and emotional exhaustion had significant positive direct effects on job alienation. Bootstrap analysis confirmed that organizational distrust partially mediated the relationships between destructive leadership, organizational silence, emotional exhaustion, and job alienation.
Conclusion: The findings indicate that employees’ job alienation is a multidimensional organizational phenomenon shaped by destructive leadership, silence climate, emotional exhaustion, and weakened organizational trust. Therefore, reducing destructive managerial behaviors, strengthening psychological safety, facilitating employee voice, and rebuilding organizational trust may help decrease job alienation among employees.
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