The Rhetorical Disengagement Phenomenon of Quiet Quitting in Organizational Behavior: Harmful Leadership, Muteness and Power

Abstract

Electronic Thesis or DissertationThis dissertation investigates the antecedents, mechanisms and outcomes of quiet quitting, focusing on the role of leadership behaviors and employee burnout. Invoking conservation of resources theory and muted group theory over the course of three empirical studies, this dissertation examines quiet quitting as a potential coping response to resource depletion and workplace muting of voice behaviors. Studies 1 and 2 employed a longitudinal survey design collecting data across four time points. Study 3 utilized the same survey scales to collect a single round of surveys from non-profit workers. Data were collected from U.S. employees identifying as employed full-time via Prolific.com. Moderated mediation analyses were used in all three studies to test proposed hypotheses. Study 1 interrogated the effects of supervisor undermining on job performance, organizational leadership behaviors (OCBs) and turnover intent via burnout with quiet quitting as a moderator between X and Y. Study 2 examined abusive supervision's impact on perceptions of interpersonal justice and quiet quitting with voice behaviors as a moderator of the relationship between X and Y. Study 3 focused on the non-profit sector to examine how supervisor undermining moderates the relationship between intrinsic motivation, affective commitment, burnout and quiet quitting, with transformational leadership added in post hoc analysis to discern any differences in positive vs. negative leadership behaviors. Findings across all studies indicate that harmful leadership behaviors consistently negatively influence burnout. While quiet quitting does not emerge concretely as a mitigating influence, its moderating role is statistically significant in several analyses. All three studies indicate quiet quitting serves as a symptom of disengagement and organizational disfunction. This dissertation contributes to nascent scholarship empirically defining quiet quitting and exploring its manifestation as both a coping mechanism and a muted strategy for resistance