Laughing it off: How does leader humor alleviate employees’ compassion fatigue in service failure?
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Date
2022
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Elservier
Abstract
Compassion fatigue, which results from empathy, is associated with many negative consequences. However,
limited attention has been devoted to the compassion fatigue of employees in the tourism and hospitality sector,
particularly within the context of service failures. To mitigate the potential negative impact of compassion fatigue
on employees, this research reveals how leader humor alleviates employees’ compassion fatigue via three
scenario-based experiments. Findings show that leader humor affects employees’ compassion fatigue through the
mediating effect of perceived organizational support. Additionally, this research uncovers the moderating roles
of leader hypocrisy and power distance beliefs. Results expand the literature on compassion fatigue and leader
humor. This study also offers suggestions to guide tourism and hospitality organizations in using leader humor
wisely to minimize employees’ compassion fatigue, particularly among staff with low power distance beliefs and
in cases of low leader hypocrisy.
Description
Tourism Management 106 (2025) 104980
Keywords
Compassion fatigue,Leader humor,Perceived organizational support,Leader hypocrisy,Power distance belief