Does Destructive Leadership Drive Job Performance in the Public Sector? Exploration of Mental Health as a Mediator

Positive biases dominate much leadership research by focusing on the attributes of the desired leader. In reality, many leaders misbehave and cause significant harm to the organization. This study aims to determine the role of mental health mediation on the relationship between destructive leadership and job performance in public sector organizations, using the JD-R theory approach. The data collection used a questionnaire distributed online, with a total of 218 respondents.  The hypothesis was tested using PLS-SEM. The results of this study show that destructive leadership has a positive and significant effect on employee mental health but does not affect job performance. Mental health does not mediate the relationship between destructive leadership and job performance.  The practical implication of this research is for management to periodically evaluate the behavior of leaders in their organizations so that the organization’s health is maintained, namely having high performance and the mental health of its employees is maintained.