The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between burnout, moral disengagement, risk-taking attitude, and managerial political skill. Using conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study seeks to determine what happens when employees who are experiencing burnout continue working within the organization. The study specifically focuses on the darker side of burnout, and its relationship with moral disengagement and risk-taking attitude by testing the proposition that employees who are experiencing burnout will utilize moral disengagement to rationalize their risk-taking attitude. The impact of managerial political skill on these relationships was also examined as managerial political skill was proposed to moderate the positive relationship between burnout and moral disengagement and moral disengagement and risk-taking attitude. To test the proposed hypotheses, Prolific, an online survey company, was utilized to collect data from 266 respondents. The survey was conducted in two phases, with each phase collected one month apart. The results of the study confirmed a positive relationship between moral disengagement and risk-taking attitude. Contrary to the hypotheses, the relationship between burnout and moral disengagement was not supported. Political skill was proposed to moderate the positive relationship between burnout and moral disengagement and moral disengagement and risk-taking attitude. These relationships were not supported. In addition, burnout did not have a significant indirect effect on risk-taking attitude through moral disengagement. Implications of the findings and future directions are discussed
