The Impact of Authentic Leadership on Quiet Quitting: Mediating Role of Organizational Citizenship Behavior

Abstract

Despite the growing awareness of quiet quitting, empirical research on how leadership styles mitigate it remains limited. Specifically, there is a substantial lack of research on the mechanisms through which authentic leadership influences quiet quitting, particularly from the perspective of organizational citizenship behavior. This study investigates how authentic leadership (AL) influences quiet quitting (QQ) through the mediating role of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB).  The study employed a quantitative cross-sectional design. Survey data was collected from 211 employees across various sectors in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The results indicated a negative association of AL with QQ behavior, whereas a positive effect on OCB. Furthermore, the findings suggest that OCB plays a full mediating role in the relationship between AL and QQ. This study integrates the literature on organizational behavior, employee engagement, and leadership theory to propose a novel theoretical framework based on Herzberg's dual-factor theory and Social Exchange Theory (SET). The findings have significant implications for promoting favorable employee attitudes and mitigating the risks of QQ tendencies. It also provides helpful guidance for developing tools and metrics to evaluate AL, QQ, and OCB.