How do hotel employees respond to negative meta-stereotypes? Intergroup anxiety and self-presentation as competing hypotheses

Purpose This study seeks to investigate intergroup anxiety and self-presentation as two competing mechanisms that explain how negative meta-stereotypes (NMSs) influence turnover intention and to explore how a sense of power moderates these effects. Design/methodology/approach One cross-sectional survey and one scenario-based experiment were conducted. Structural equation modeling was utilized to analyze data from the cross-sectional survey, while PROCESS modeling was applied in the scenario-based experiment. Findings Hotel employees’ NMSs increased turnover intention through intergroup anxiety rather than self-presentation. Additionally, a sequential mediation was observed, whereby NMSs heighten intergroup anxiety, reducing self-presentation and increasing turnover intention. Furthermore, hotel employees having higher power over customers showed greater resilience to NMSs, experienced less intergroup anxiety, and thus engaged in more proactive self-presentation. Practical implications Managers should implement strategies such as promoting positive meta-stereotypes, encouraging deeper employee–customer interactions and adopting empowering leadership practices. Originality/value The findings enrich our understanding of the psychological mechanism by which NMSs influence hotel employees’ turnover intentions. Furthermore, our findings make contributions by modeling a sense of power as a boundary condition for such effects.