Work for them or myself: a motivational approach to study the influences of supervisor bottom-line mentality on employee exhaustion

Extending current bottom-line mentality research, this paper provides a new theoretical perspective for examining the how and when supervisor bottom-line mentality (i.e., supervisors who solely focus on bottom-line attainments at the expense of other priorities) is related to employee exhaustion. Drawing on self-determination theory, it is proposed that supervisor bottom-line mentality is positively related to external regulation and negatively related to intrinsic motivation, both of which can further predict employee exhaustion. Leader-member exchange is also proposed as a boundary condition that prevents the negative relationship between supervisor bottom-line mentality and intrinsic motivation but enhances the positive relationship with external regulation. Data collected at three time points from 251 employees in China provide support for most hypotheses, except the relationship between supervisor bottom-line mentality and intrinsic motivation. The proposed negative relationship was only significant after including control variables. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed and directions for future research are provided.