Organizations based in High-Power Distance cultures uphold stability, hierarchical authority, and implied compliance. However, they are also a fertile ground for the expression of latent or manifest dark personality traits. When such traits thrive under the guise of authority, organizations become battlegrounds of power and submission, leaving subordinates trapped in an endless loop of distress. As workplaces evolve, relentlessly pursuing innovation and performance has intensified urgency, ushering in new challenges. While technology enhances efficiency, AI integration and digital systems have also led to job insecurity, ethical concerns, and information overload, contributing to technostress. In organizations already struggling with dark leadership, digital overreach further exacerbates psychological strain, eroding morale and impeding corporate and social responsibility. However, distress is not a monolithic experience, as underlying mechanisms shape how subordinates perceive and navigate workplace adversities. India, a High-Power Distance culture and one of the world&rsquos biggest digital disruptors, presents a unique paradox with its sheer scale of expansion. India has one of the highest global burdens of mental health issues, with limited resources for redressal. Moreover, India entertains a complex amalgam of belief systems and cultural dynamics that influence the psychological resources of employees. Thus, rooted in Hofstede&rsquos Cultural Dimensions and the Milgram Experiment, this study examines how hierarchical workplace structures, dark personality traits, moral disengagement, and technostress contribute to employee distress. It also examines the buffering capacities of psychological resources and organizational justice in the same scenario. This study seeks to offer a culturally grounded and psychologically informed framework that can help understand organizational power dynamics and design psychologically adaptive workplaces.

Keywords: Dark Triad traits Organisational Justice Technostress Psychological Capital Employee distress Moral Disengagement