Through an empirical analysis of paired sample data from 308 employees in China, this study examines the chain-mediated effects of trust in leaders and defensive silence on the relationship between differentiated empowering leadership and interpersonal counterproductive work behaviors. The study finds that differentiated empowering leadership does not directly influence employees' interpersonal counterproductive work behaviors. Additionally, it finds that trust in leaders and defensive silence each serve as mediators in the relationship between differentiated empowering leadership and interpersonal counterproductive work behaviors, forming a chained mediation effect. This study is the first empirical research to explore the impact mechanism of differentiated empowering leadership using a chained mediation model. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of how and why differentiated empowering leadership affects employees' attitudes, such as trust in leaders, and behaviors, such as interpersonal counterproductive work behaviors.
Keywords: defensive silence; differentiated empowering leadership; interpersonal counterproductive work behaviors; trust in leaders.