Extant research consistently shows that leader gratitude expression benefits subordinates, teams, and organizations. However, drawing upon moral licensing theory, we challenge this prevailing view by identifying a paradoxically and ironically potential downside: leader gratitude expression may lead to leader exploitation through increased moral credit. That is, the more gratitude leaders express, the more likely they are to engage in toxic exploitative behaviors. To explore this potential negative effect, we propose a two-stage moderated mediation model. In the first stage, leader moral identity moderates the relationship between leader gratitude expression and leader moral credit, buffering this relationship when leader moral identity is higher (rather than lower). In the second stage, service climate moderates the effect of leader moral credit on leader exploitation, buffering this relationship when service climate is higher (rather than lower). These hypotheses were supported by two pre-registered studies: a two-wave field study collecting data from 250 leader-follower dyads in China and a field experiment collecting data from 179 full-time leaders in U.S. The implications for leader gratitude expression, moral licensing theory, and exploitation literature are discussed.
