The Effect of Social Undermining on Employees’ Emotional Exhaustion and Procrastination Behavior in Deluxe Hotels: Moderating Role of Positive Psychological Capital

The purpose of this study was to determine if social undermining as perceived by frontline employees significantly affects their emotional exhaustion and procrastination behavior and to clarify the moderating role of positive psychological capital. A total of 310 deluxe hotel employees in South Korea participated in this study by completing a self-administered questionnaire. The study results showed that social undermining perceived by deluxe hotel employees positively influenced their emotional exhaustion. In addition, when emotional exhaustion became severe, employees’ procrastination behavior, which harmed their organizations, increased. Additionally, the findings suggest a mediating effect, thereby indicating that employees’ procrastination behaviors may increase when they experience emotional exhaustion resulting from social undermining. When employees perform their jobs with a positive attitude in a work situation, the negative influence of social undermining and emotional exhaustion may be partially offset. Limitations and future research directions are also discussed.