Laissez-faire leadership behaviors in public sector in Vietnam

Abstract

Negative leadership styles lay the groundwork for bullying to thrive, which negatively affects individual psychological health as found in previous research. However, because little is known in relation to how employees from high-power distance cultures such as Vietnam, experience the negative consequences of destructive leadership behaviors at work, the current study examined the consequences of laissez-faire leadership behaviors from 207 public sector employees in Vietnam. Results showed that laissez-faire leadership behaviors were negatively associated with psychological safety climate (PSC) and increased the incidence of workplace bullying. PSC was also found to have a positive impact on employee well-being, while workplace bullying had a negative influence on employee well-being.