Islamic Work Ethics and Workplace Deviance: Moderating role of Employees’ Perceived Abusive Supervision and Mediating Role of Employees’ Hostility

Employing social exchange and norm of reciprocity theory, our study explores the link between Islamic work ethics (IWE) and workplace deviance. Results of the study show that IWE is negatively linked with workplace deviance. The role of employees’ perceived abusive supervision as moderator and the role of employees’ hostility as mediator on the link between IWE and workplace deviance are studied. The moderating role of employees’ perceived supervisory abuse and the mediating role of employees’ hostility on the link between IWE and workplace deviance is confirmed. Utilizing a time-lagged research plan that allowed data collection in two waves, we collected responses from 189 employees of different organizations (specializing in manufacturing, engineering, banking, transportation, and information technology) across Pakistan. Moderated mediation regression is used to test our hypotheses. A large number of responses collected from employees working in other Islamic cultures and countries would further improve the generalizability of our research findings. Generally, researchers seem to assume, while focusing only on one side of the Islamic teachings, that IWE-related job outcomes would always be positive. Our study adds to the literature by challenging this assumption. We observe a change in the direction of the observed relationship between IWE and workplace deviance when employees’ perceived abusive supervision is high through their hostility. These results are also explained with the help of Islamic teachings. By helping researchers and practitioners to better understand employee personality and perceptions, this study would proactively guide them toward protecting the workforce and the workplace from damaging consequences.