Leadership, psychological capital and safety research: Conceptual issues and future research questions

In this theory-driven literature review we examine how leadership and emerging research in positive organizational behaviour (POB) may inform our understanding of human mechanisms that affect safety outcomes. According to authentic leadership theory, leader self-awareness and self-regulation processes are vital mechanisms in the leader-follower exchange. From emerging research on authentic leadership, we propose that production management values, attitudes, and behaviour are linked to safety climate and safety outcomes in safety critical organizations (SCOs). According to recent developments in management theory, “psychological capital” is comprised of four distinct aspects that can be linked to desirable organizational outcomes and sustained high quality performance in individual workers. From this we offer a research model and five research propositions implicating that authentic leadership directly affects safety outcomes via promoting positive safety climate perceptions. Furthermore, we propose a second path where psychological capital mediates the relationship between authentic leadership, safety climate and safety outcomes in SCOs.     

Impact of authentic leadership on performance: Role of followers' positive psychological capital and relational processes

Authentic leadership has received considerable attention and research support over the past decade. Now the time has come to refine and better understand how it impacts performance. This study investigates the moderating role followers' positive psychological capital (PsyCap) and the mediating role that leader–member exchange (LMX) may play in influencing the relationship between authentic leadership and followers' performance. Specifically, we tested this mediated moderation model with matched data from 794 followers and their immediate leaders. We found that authentic leadership is positively related to LMX and consequently followers' performance, and to a larger degree, among followers who have low rather than high levels of PsyCap. Our discussion highlights the benefits of understanding the roles of relational processes and followers' positive psychological resources involved in the effectiveness of authentic leadership and how they can be practically implemented. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How transformational leadership influences follower helping behavior: The role of trust and prosocial motivation

We proposed and tested a moderated mediation model that jointly examines affect‐based and cognition‐based trust as the mediators and prosocial motivation as the moderator in relationships between transformational leadership and followers’ helping behavior towards coworkers. Data were collected from 348 sales and servicing employees and their supervisors in four private retail companies and five private manufacturing companies located in Southeast China. The results showed that both affect‐based trust and cognition‐based trust mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and followers’ helping behavior towards coworkers. Furthermore, moderated mediation analyses showed that affect‐based trust mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and followers’ helping behavior towards coworkers only among employees with high prosocial motivation, whereas cognition‐based trust mediated this relationship among only those with low prosocial motivation. Implications for the theory and practice of leadership are then discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Charismatic leadership and follower effects

On the basis of the current theories of charismatic leadership, several possible follower effects were identified. It is hypothesized that followers of charismatic leaders could be distinguished by their greater reverence, trust, and satisfaction with their leader and by a heightened sense of collective identity, perceived group task performance, and feelings of empowerment. Using the Conger–Kanungo charismatic leadership scale and measures of the hypothesized follower effects, an empirical study was conducted on a sample of 252 managers using structural equation modelling. The results show a strong relationship between follower reverence and charismatic leadership. Follower trust and satisfaction, however, are mediated through leader reverence. Followers' sense of collective identity and perceived group task performance are affected by charismatic leadership. Feelings of empowerment are mediated through the followers' sense of collective identity and perceived group task performance. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A multi‐level investigation of psychological contract breach and organizational identification through the lens of perceived organizational membership: Testing a moderated–mediated model

Drawing on the perceived organizational membership theoretical framework and the social identity view of dissonance theory, I examined in this study the dynamics of the relationship between psychological contract breach and organizational identification. I included group‐level transformational and transactional leadership as well as procedural justice in the hypothesized model as key antecedents for organizational membership processes. I further explored the mediating role of psychological contract breach in the relationship between leadership, procedural justice climate, and organizational identification and proposed separateness–connectedness self‐schema as an important moderator of the above mediated relationship. Hierarchical linear modeling results from a sample of 864 employees from 162 work units in 10 Greek organizations indicated that employees' perception of psychological contract breach negatively affected their organizational identification. I also found psychological contract breach to mediate the impact of transformational and transactional leadership on organizational identification. Results further provided support for moderated mediation and showed that the indirect effects of transformational and transactional leadership on identification through psychological contract breach were stronger for employees with a low connectedness self‐schema. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Integrating managerial perceptions and transformational leadership into a work‐unit level model of employee involvement

Employee involvement is an organizational phenomenon that has received increasing empirical attention. Although much research has examined the outcomes of involvement at the organization level, arguments can be made for exploring involvement at the work‐unit level and for investigating the processes by which a unit‐level climate of involvement may be created or emerge. Building on largely untested suggestions that such processes are likely to be motivational and initiated by employees' immediate supervisors, this paper incorporates two concepts of managerial perceptions and leadership into a work‐unit level model of involvement climate. In particular, this study examines the indirect association of managerial perceptions about subordinates' ability to perform and about the utility of organizational practices for facilitating performance, as well as the direct association of transformational leadership, with a climate of involvement. The association of involvement climate with citizenship, absenteeism, and voluntary turnover is also considered. Using structural equation modeling in a sample of 167 work units, results indicate that leadership fully mediates the relationship between managers' perceptions about their subordinates and climate. Further, climate partially mediates and fully mediates the relationship between leadership and citizenship, and absenteeism, respectively. Implications for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Is being a leader a mixed blessing? A dual‐pathway model linking leadership role occupancy to well‐being

Recent leadership research has drawn greater attention to how the well‐being of leaders influences leadership behaviors, follower performance and well‐being, and overall leadership effectiveness. Yet little attention has been paid to the relationship between occupying leadership positions and job incumbents' well‐being. This research addresses this question by developing and testing a dual‐pathway model. Our model proposes that incumbency in leadership positions is positively related to high levels of both job demands and job control, whereas job demands and job control have offsetting effects on well‐being. Results based on a longitudinal sample revealed that employees who transitioned from nonleadership positions to leadership roles showed trajectories of increasing job demands and job control, whereas such trends were weaker among those who remained in nonleadership positions. Findings from three additional samples generally demonstrated that leadership role occupancy was indirectly related to various indices of psychological and physiological well‐being through job demands and job control. Because the signs of the indirect effects through job demands and job control differed in expected ways, the overall relationship between leadership role occupancy and the well‐being outcomes was generally small and nonsignificant. We discuss research and practical implications of our framework and findings for organizations, employees, and leaders.     

Relationship between protean career orientation and work–life balance: A resource perspective

Despite the commonly held belief that a protean career orientation (PCO) enables employees to achieve more balance in their lives, little is known about the relationship between PCO and work–life balance. Using two waves of data collection separated by 2.5 years, this study examined the relationship between PCO and work–life balance among a sample of 367 college‐educated employees in the United States. Analysis was conducted to empirically distinguish PCO from conceptually related constructs, and structural equation modeling was used to examine the process that explains the linkage between PCO and balance. We found that PCO was positively related to work–life balance. We also found support for the role of several resources (social capital, psychological capital, and perceived employability) that explain the relationship between PCO and balance. In particular, PCO was associated with extensive career planning activities that were related to the accumulation of three forms of career capital—human capital, social capital, and psychological capital. In turn, social capital and psychological capital were associated with high employability, which was related to greater work–life balance for individuals who take a whole‐life perspective on their careers. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the findings and provide suggestions for future research. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Leadership,followers' mental health and job performance in organizations: A comprehensive meta‐analysis from an occupational health perspective

The present meta‐analysis investigates the associations between leadership, followers' mental health, and job performance by taking into account different groups of leadership constructs including transformational leadership, relations‐oriented leadership, task‐oriented leadership, destructive leadership, and leader–member exchange. Six categories of mental health‐related outcomes are considered representing both negative and positive mental health states of followers, namely, affective symptoms, burnout, stress, well‐being, psychological functioning, and health complaints. Meta‐analytic models are used to estimate the association between these categories of leadership and mental health. Our results reveal that transformational leadership, a high quality of relations‐oriented and task‐oriented leadership behavior, as well as a high quality of leader–follower interaction are positively associated with mental health. In contrast, destructive leadership is strongly negatively associated with mental health. In addition, the mediation effects of leadership on job performance via mental health are estimated. Results partially support the mediating role of mental health concerning the relationship between leadership and job performance. Our results emphasize the importance of leadership as an occupational health factor, and they may serve as basis for the planning and designing of occupational health policies and interventions despite existing research limitations. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Retraction statement: Authentically leading groups: The mediating role of collective psychological capital and trust

The following article from the Journal of Organizational Behavior, Authentically leading groups: The mediating role of collective psychological capital and trust by Fred O. Walumbwa, Fred Luthans, James B. Avey and Adegoke Oke, published online on 1st September 2009 in Wiley Online Library ( www.wileyonlinelibrary.com ) and in Volume 32, Issue 1, January 2011, Pages 4‐24, has been retracted by the journal's Editor in Chief, Neal M. Ashkanasy, and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. The retraction is on the grounds of the authors' advice that they made an error in relation to the level of analysis used. As a result of this error, the authors incorrectly calculated key fit statistics. When correctly estimated, the fit statistics do not provide an acceptable level of support for the hypothesized model, rendering the authors' conclusions, as stated in the article, unsustainable.     

Empowered to lead: the role of psychological empowerment in leadership

This study examines the relationship between psychological empowerment and leadership. Empowered supervisors are hypothesized to be innovative, upward influencing, and inspirational and less focused on monitoring to maintain the status quo. Tested on a sample of mid‐level supervisors from a Fortune 500 organization, the hypotheses were largely supported. Supervisors who reported higher levels of empowerment were seen by their subordinates as more innovative, upward influencing, and inspirational. No relationship was found between supervisory empowerment and monitoring behaviours. Implications for theory and practice are discussed, and future research directions are suggested. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Personality and teamwork behavior in context: The cross‐level moderating role of collective efficacy

This research examines whether the relationship between an individual's personality and their behavior within a team is contingent on the team's overall perception of its capability. Individuals were peer‐rated on the extent to which they displayed interpersonal and performance management teamwork behaviors over the course of an 8 week business simulation. The personality trait of agreeableness predicted interpersonal teamwork behavior, while the personality traits of conscientiousness and core self‐evaluation (CSE) predicted performance management behavior. Multilevel analysis showed that collective efficacy influenced the extent to which an individual engaged in both types of behavior, and was also a cross‐level moderator of the relationship between agreeableness and interpersonal behavior and the relationship between CSE and performance management behavior. At the team level, interpersonal behavior mediated between collective efficacy and team performance. The study's results show that in team settings the personality and individual behavior relationship may depend on group level confidence perceptions. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Collective fit perceptions: A multilevel investigation of person–group fit with individual‐level and team‐level outcomes

This study describes a multilevel examination of person–group (PG) fit perceptions in a sample of 1023 individuals working in 92 teams at a private sector R&D firm. Using confirmatory factor analysis and multilevel random coefficient modeling, we provide evidence that perceptions of team‐level collective fit are unique from aggregated individual‐level PG fit perceptions at the individual and team levels. We demonstrate that collective values‐based and abilities‐based fit perceptions showed unique and positive relationships with team cohesion, team efficacy, and team performance, after accounting for aggregated individual perceptions of PG fit. Results also demonstrate that cohesion partially mediates the relationship between collective fit and team performance. Cross‐level effects were also supported, indicating that collective fit explains additional variance in individual‐level outcomes, beyond individual‐level PG fit perceptions. The usefulness of employing a multilevel approach to studying PG fit is discussed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A cross‐level model of shared leadership,meaning, and individual creativity

Research on leadership and creativity is dominated by the study of leadership from people in formal leadership positions. The very nature of creativity requires self‐direction, however. This points to shared leadership, a process in which members dynamically share the leadership role, as a particularly relevant influence to consider. Drawing on psychological empowerment theory, we develop the shared leadership perspective on individual creativity. We argue that shared leadership has a cross‐level influence on individual creativity that is mediated by the experience of meaning of work and moderated by individual differences in power distance value: for individuals lower on power distance, shared leadership has a positive linear relationship with individual creativity; for individuals higher on power distance, shared leadership has a curvilinear relationship with individual creativity that is decreasingly positive. Using a sample of 623 members from 95 teams in 34 Chinese organizations, we find support for this multilevel model. Findings offer theoretical implications for shared leadership and creativity research and provide managerial implications.     

How do transformational leaders foster positive employee outcomes? A self‐determination‐based analysis of employees' needs as mediating links

Although followers' needs are a central aspect of transformational leadership theory, little is known about their role as mediating mechanisms for this leadership style. The present research thus seeks to integrate and extend theorizing on transformational leadership and self‐determination. In particular, we propose that the satisfaction of followers' basic needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) mediates the relationship between transformational leadership and employee outcomes (job satisfaction, self‐efficacy, and commitment to the leader). We tested this model in two studies involving employees from a broad spectrum of organizations in Germany (N = 410) and in Switzerland (N = 442). Results revealed largely consistent patterns across both studies. The need for competence fulfillment solely mediated the link between transformational leadership and occupational self‐efficacy; the need for relatedness fulfillment solely mediated the link between transformational leadership and commitment to the leader. The mediating pattern for the link between transformational leadership and job satisfaction varied slightly across studies. In Study 1, only the need for autonomy fulfillment was a significant mediator, whereas in Study 2, all three needs mediated this relationship. Taken together, our study integrates theorizing on transformational leadership and self‐determination by corroborating that need fulfillment indeed is a central mechanism behind transformational leadership. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Can self‐sacrificial leadership promote subordinate taking charge? The mediating role of organizational identification and the moderating role of risk aversion

The extant literature on the relationship between self‐sacrificial leadership and subordinate behavioral outcomes has primarily focused on the influence of this leadership on subordinate affiliative behaviors. Our research proposed a theoretical model explaining why and when self‐sacrificial leadership might promote taking charge, an exemplar of challenging behaviors. We tested this model across two studies conducted in China. In addition, we also examined the differences in the boundary conditions for self‐sacrificial leadership to influence taking charge and affiliative behaviors (cooperation in Study 1 and helping in Study 2 ). Our results revealed that (i) self‐sacrificial leadership was positively related to subordinate taking charge, with organizational identification acting as a mediator for this relationship, and (ii) risk aversion moderated both the self‐sacrificial leadership–subordinate taking charge relationship and the mediating effect of organizational identification, such that the relationship and its mediating mechanism were weaker for subordinates high rather than low in risk aversion. These moderating effects, however, could not generalize to cooperation and helping. Finally, the theoretical and practical implications of our results and directions for future research were discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Positive group affective tone and team creativity: Negative group affective tone and team trust as boundary conditions

Drawing on multiple group‐level theories, we explored boundary conditions of the relationship between positive group affective tone (PGAT) and team creativity. We collected data from members and leaders of 68 research and development teams and performed hierarchical linear modeling analyses to test our hypotheses. Consistent with the “group‐centrism” perspective, we found that PGAT was beneficial for team creativity only when team trust was low; when trust was high, PGAT had a negative relationship with team creativity. In accord with the “dual‐tuning” perspective, the positive effect of PGAT on creativity was present only when team trust was low but negative group affective tone was high. We discussed the theoretical and practical implications. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Transformational leadership and organizational commitment: mediating role of psychological empowerment and moderating role of structural distance

Using a sample of 520 staff nurses employed by a large public hospital in Singapore, we examined whether psychological empowerment mediated the effects of transformational leadership on followers' organizational commitment. We also examined how structural distance (direct and indirect leadership) between leaders and followers moderated the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational commitment. Results from HLM analyses showed that psychological empowerment mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational commitment. Similarly, structural distance between the leader and follower moderated the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational commitment. Implications for research and practice of our findings are discussed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Empowering leadership: A meta‐analytic examination of incremental contribution,mediation, and moderation

The concept of empowering leadership (EL) has seen increasing scholarly interest in recent years. This study reports a meta‐analysis investigating the effects of EL on employee work behavior. On the basis of data from 105 samples, we found evidence for the positive effects of EL on performance, organizational citizenship behavior, and creativity at both the individual and team levels. We further examined these relationships by exploring potential boundary conditions and the incremental contribution of EL over transformational leadership and leader–member exchange. Furthermore, at the individual level, both trust in leader and psychological empowerment mediated the relationships of EL with task performance, organizational citizenship behavior, and creativity. We also found evidence that leader–member exchange was a significant mediator between EL and task performance. At the team level, empowerment mediated the effects of EL on team performance, whereas knowledge sharing showed no significant indirect effect. Our results have important theoretical and practical implications and suggest some areas that require further research.     

Does participative leadership enhance work performance by inducing empowerment or trust? The differential effects on managerial and non‐managerial subordinates

We examined whether participative leadership behavior is associated with improved work performance through a motivational process or an exchange‐based process. Based on data collected from 527 employees from a Fortune 500 company, we found that the link between superiors' participative leadership behaviors and subordinates' task performance and organizational citizenship behavior toward organizations (OCBO) was mediated by psychological empowerment (motivational mediator) for managerial subordinates. Yet, for non‐managerial subordinates such as supporting and front‐line employees, the impact of participative leadership on task performance and OCBO was mediated by trust‐in‐supervisor (exchange‐based mediator). Implications for theories and practices are discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.