Does Psychological Empowerment Mediate the Relationship Between Psychological Climate and Job Satisfaction?

This study tested a model in which empowerment was hypothesised to mediate the relationship between psychological climate and job satisfaction. Individual levels of negative affectivity were controlled for. The sample consisted of 174 customer service employees (59% female and 39% male). Support was found for a model in which empowerment mediated the relationship between climate and job satisfaction, the dimensions of meaning and competence were largely responsible for the mediating effects of empowerment. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings were explored.     

Transformational leadership and customer service: A moderated mediation model of negative affectivity and emotion regulation

Integrating theories from leadership, emotion management, affectivity, and customer service, this study examines how transformational leadership leads to favourable customer intentions via the mediation of service employees' emotion regulation, job satisfaction, and their service performance and via the moderation of employee negative affectivity. Results obtained from data of 204 matched sets of managers, service employees, and customers show that the effect of transformational leadership on amplification of pleasant emotions was conditioned on service employees' negative affectivity. Employee service performance partially mediated the effect of job satisfaction on customer outcomes. Finally, overall results reveal that transformational leadership and amplification of pleasant emotions were more strongly related to the customer outcomes, as mediated through the intervening variables in the model, when negative affectivity was high than when negative affectivity was low. Results have implications for how service workers with negative affectivity can manage their emotions to achieve effective service outcomes through interactions with a leader, how the effect of transformational leadership can be bounded, and how transformational leadership and emotion regulation are relevant to customer service.     

Feedback environment and well-being at work: The mediating role of personal control and feelings of helplessness

This study examines employees' personal control and feelings of helplessness at work as partial mediators of the relationship between the supervisor–employee feedback environment and well-being (job satisfaction, job depression, job anxiety, turnover intentions) at work. Findings are reported from a cross-sectional field study with 345 participants from three different industries. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that feedback environment was positively related to job satisfaction, personal control over information and decisions, and was negatively related to helplessness, job depression, and turnover intentions. Furthermore, personal control partially mediated the relationships between feedback environment and job satisfaction as well as job depression. Helplessness partially mediated the relationships between feedback environment and job depression, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions. This study adds to the literature on feedback environment in highlighting the importance of the supervisor–employee feedback environment for well-being at work and introducing personal control and helplessness as mediating variables.     

An examination of the mediating role of psychological empowerment on the relations between the job, interpersonal relationships, and work outcomes

A field investigation of 337 employees and their immediate superiors tested the mediating role of empowerment in relations between job characteristics, leader-member exchange (LMX), team-member exchange (TMX), and work outcomes. The meaning and competence dimensions of empowerment mediated the relation between job characteristics and work satisfaction. The meaning dimension also mediated the relation between job characteristics and organizational commitment. Contrary to prediction, empowerment did not mediate relations between LMX, TMX, and the outcome variables. Rather, LMX and TMX were directly related to organizational commitment. In addition, TMX was directly related to job performance. These findings suggest that work satisfaction is explained largely by job characteristics (through empowerment) but that LMX and TMX combine with job characteristics and empowerment to explain variation in organizational commitment and job performance.     

Supervisors' upward exchange relationships and subordinate outcomes: testing the multilevel mediation role of empowerment

This study empirically examined the proposition that supervisors' exchange relationships with their own supervisors (i.e., leader-leader exchange, or LLX) are related to their subordinates' work-related outcomes through 3 mechanisms: (a) leaders modeling their LLX to develop and maintain their exchange relationships with their subordinates (i.e., leader-member exchange, or LMX), (b) motivating the team and its members, captured by team and individual empowerment, and (c) facilitating the relationships between LMX and individual outcomes. Analyses of multisource and lagged data from 104 team supervisors and 577 subordinates showed that LMX mediated the positive relationship of LLX on subordinates' individual empowerment. Furthermore, team empowerment and individual empowerment sequentially mediated the positive relationships between LLX and subordinates' job satisfaction and job performance. The authors also found that the indirect relationships of LMX with job satisfaction and job performance via individual empowerment were stronger when LLX was higher. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Relative Leader–Member Exchange Within Team Contexts: How and when Social Comparison Impacts Individual Effectiveness

A multilevel model was developed to examine how and when a focal individual's leader–member exchange (LMX) relative to the LMXs of coworkers within the team (relative LMX, or RLMX) influences individual in‐role performance, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), and job satisfaction. Results, based on a sample of 275 leader–member dyads within 35 teams of a beverage company, largely supported the hypotheses. Specifically, using multilevel polynomial regression analyses, the results showed that self‐efficacy partially mediated the relationship between RLMX and in‐role performance and job satisfaction, and fully mediated the relationship between RLMX and OCB. Furthermore, the results demonstrated that team identification attenuated RLMX's direct effect on self‐efficacy, and indirect effects on in‐role performance and OCB and team supportive behavior attenuated RLMX's direct effect on self‐efficacy and indirect effect on in‐role performance.     

Empowerment and team effectiveness: an empirical test of an integrated model

The authors developed a model of team empowerment as an emergent state linking inputs (I) with processes (P) and, thereby, with outcomes (O) in the context of an expanded team IPO framework. Using survey responses from 452 members of 121 empowered service technician teams, along with archival quantitative performance and customer satisfaction criteria, the authors tested the model using structural equation modeling techniques. The model was generally supported, although areas for improvement were evident. Specifically, empowerment partially mediated the influences of various inputs on team processes, whereas team processes fully mediated the influence of empowerment on outcomes. Directions for future research and application are discussed.     

Leader-member exchange and member performance: a new look at individual-level negative feedback-seeking behavior and team-level empowerment climate

From a basis in social exchange theory, the authors investigated whether, and how, negative feedback-seeking behavior and a team empowerment climate affect the relationship between leader-member exchange (LMX) and member performance. Results showed that subordinates' negative feedback-seeking behavior mediated the relationship between LMX and both objective and subjective in-role performance. In addition, the level of a team's empowerment climate was positively related to subordinates' own sense of empowerment, which in turn negatively moderated the effects of LMX on negative feedback-seeking behavior.     

Organizational identification as a trigger for personal well-being: Associations with happiness and stress through job outcomes

Recent literature highlights that well-being, happiness, as well as personal stress, has become important for guiding public policy in areas that might involve suboptimal behaviour. Positive life outcomes can extend from one field of life (family, work, sport, children, hobbies, etc.) to another, multiplying success, performance, and health. In the present study, we aimed to verify whether the positive relation between organizational identification and employees' experiences then extends also into a positive association with more general well-being that is unrelated to the work context. For this purpose, we considered two proxies of organizational well-being: job satisfaction (on the positive side) and turnover intention (on the negative side) as well as the distal associations with happiness. The study involved 305 workers who completed a questionnaire made up of five scales: organization identification, job satisfaction, turnover intention, happiness, and personal stress. We found that organizational identification is positively related to employees' job satisfaction and negatively related to their intention to leave. Afterwards, job satisfaction and turnover intention were related to personal stress and happiness, suggesting a positive effect of organizational identification above and beyond the work context.     

Open Workplace Climate and LGB Employees' Psychological Experiences: The Roles of Self‐Concealment and Self‐Acceptance

This study explores how an environmental factor (i.e., a perceived open climate) shapes lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) employees' job satisfaction and job anxiety through the mediating role of self‐concealment. It also investigates the moderating role of self‐acceptance. Results from 315 LGB employees supported the conclusion that a perceived open climate for minority sexuality increased job satisfaction and decreased job anxiety. The open climate–job anxiety relationship was mediated by self‐concealment, and both stages of this mediation process were moderated by self‐acceptance. These findings offer useful insights for counselors and managers to help LGB individuals improve their workplace psychological experiences.     

Transformational and transactional leaderships,empowerment climate,and innovation performance: A multilevel analysis in the Chinese context

Innovation through creativity is an important factor in the success and competitive advantage of organizations. Theory and research suggest that both leadership and organizational climate have important consequences for individual creativity. However, researchers have rarely considered the interactive effects of leadership and organizational climate. This study taking a “Substitute for Leadership” perspective, develops and tests the idea that empowerment climate affect the relationship between leadership and followers' creative performance. Data were collected from 93 teams, including 465 team members and 93 team supervisors, in a large multinational company based in China. Hierarchical linear modelling was used to examine the hypothesized cross-level model. As expected, transformational leadership and team empowerment climate were positively related to subordinates' creative performance and transactional leadership was negatively related to subordinates' creative performance. In addition, the relationship between leadership and subordinates' creative performance was moderated by team empowerment climate. The study resulted in the implication of several major variables for explaining individual creativity in the Chinese context.     

A multilevel study of leadership, empowerment, and performance in teams

A multilevel model of leadership, empowerment, and performance was tested using a sample of 62 teams, 445 individual members, 62 team leaders, and 31 external managers from 31 stores of a Fortune 500 company. Leader-member exchange and leadership climate related differently to individual and team empowerment and interacted to influence individual empowerment. Also, several relationships were supported in more but not in less interdependent teams. Specifically, leader-member exchange related to individual performance partially through individual empowerment; leadership climate related to team performance partially through team empowerment; team empowerment moderated the relationship between individual empowerment and performance; and individual performance was positively related to team performance. Contributions to team leadership theory, research, and practices are discussed.     

A Multilevel Analysis of Relationships Between Leaders' and Subordinates' Emotional Intelligence and Emotional Outcomes

The present study examined relationships between leaders' emotional intelligence (EI) and subordinates' emotion and work attitudes and between leaders' and subordinates' EI and work outcomes. School directors and educators completed measures of EI, affect at work, job satisfaction, and burnout. A series of multilevel analyses found that leaders' use of emotion was positively related to subordinates' work emotionality and attitudes, whereas leaders' emotion regulation and self‐emotion appraisal were negatively related to subordinates' emotion and work attitudes. Leaders' and subordinates' own EI was positively related to their own work emotionality and job satisfaction. These findings support a social interactionist perspective on emotions at work and a multilevel understanding of the effects of leaders' emotions intrapersonally and interpersonally.     

Trans-parency in the workplace: How the experiences of transsexual employees can be improved

Very little research has focused exclusively on the workplace experiences of transsexual employees. Studies that have been done are either qualitative case studies (e.g., Budge, Tebbe, & Howard; 2010; Schilt & Connell, 2007), or aggregate transsexual individuals with lesbian, gay, and bisexual employees (e.g., Irwin, 2002). The current study focuses on this underexamined population and examines general workplace experiences, and both individual and organizational characteristics that influence transsexual employees' job attitudes. Results reveal that organizational supportiveness, transsexual identity centrality, and the degree to which they disclose to individuals outside of work all predict transsexual employees' disclosure behaviors in the workplace. These disclosure behaviors are positively related to job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and negatively related to job anxiety. These relations are mediated by coworker reactions. This research expands knowledge about diverse employee populations and offers both theory and some of the first large-scale empirical data collected on the workplace experiences of transsexual employees.     

The effect of empowerment on job knowledge: An empirical test involving operators of complex technology

Two studies were conducted to investigate the predicted effect of empowerment on employees' job knowledge. Study 1 developed a measure of job knowledge, based on knowledge elicitation techniques, for use in work settings. Study 2 used that measure to examine change in employee knowledge following an empowerment initiative. Findings showed a substantial increase in job knowledge, particularly among less experienced employees. Improvements were also recorded for employee self‐confidence and strain, but not for motivation or job satisfaction. The wider theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

The mediating role of engagement and burnout in the relationship between employees' emotion regulation strategies and customer outcomes

Service employees' emotional display plays an important role in service interactions, but little is known about the effects of employee's emotional regulation strategies on customer outcomes. This study examines a model in which emotion regulation is associated with customer satisfaction and loyalty intentions as mediated by employee burnout and engagement. Data collected from 135 employee–customer dyads following service interactions was analysed with structural equation modelling. The results show that engagement fully mediates the relationship of deep acting, and burnout partially mediates the relationship of surface acting, with customer satisfaction and loyalty intentions.     

变革型领导与员工工作态度：心理授权的中介作用

研究的主要目的是考察变革型领导与员工满意度、组织承诺之间的关系,以及变革型领导的作用机制,即变革型领导是否会通过心理授权影响员工工作态度。利用14家企业744份调查问卷的结果,采用结构方程模型技术对变革型领导、心理授权、员工满意度、组织承诺之间的关系进行了交叉验证分析。结果表明,愿景激励与德行垂范对组织承诺与员工满意度有显著的影响,而领导魅力与个性化关怀只对员工满意度有显著的影响;心理授权对变革型领导与员工工作态度的关系具有一定的中介作用,愿景激励与德行垂范通过工作意义影响员工满意度与组织承诺;愿景激励通过自我效能影响组织承诺     

员工为什么乐于助人?多层次的领导–部属交换对帮助行为的影响

基于社会交换理论,以56名直属主管和274名下属的配对数据为样本,考察了多层次的领导–部属交换对个体和团队层次上的帮助行为的影响及作用过程。跨层次分析结果表明:(1)个体层次的人际公平中介了个体和团队层次的领导–部属交换对员工帮助行为的影响;(2)团队层次的人际公平氛围中介了团队平均领导–部属交换对个体和团队层次的帮助行为的影响;(3)领导–部属交换关系差异化对个体和团队层次的领导–部属交换与帮助行为之间的正向关系均具有显著的负向调节作用,即相对于较高的领导–部属交换关系差异化,较低的领导–部属交换关系差异化强化了个体和团队层次的领导–部属交换对帮助行为的影响。     

Sense of Control Among Hospital Employees: An Assessment of Choice Process,Empowerment, and Buffering Hypotheses1

This study examines 3 theoretical arguments explaining employees' sense of control: (a) The choice process hypothesis stipulates that employees' sense of control is a consequence of their choice processes and perceived choice size; (b) the empowerment hypothesis proposes that sense of control results from the empowerment role of social and organizational support which endorse and authorize employees' job activities; and (c) the buffering hypothesis indicates that a successful management of job-related stressors is the key to greater sense of control, and that social support plays a role in buffering the potential negative influences of job-related stressors. An assessment of the hypotheses over a sample of 1,585 hospital employees in Korea provided overall support for the choice process hypothesis and partial support for both the empowerment and the buffering hypotheses. We discuss some practical and cross-cultural research implications of the findings.     

The psychological conditions of meaningfulness,safety and availability and the engagement of the human spirit at work

Building on Kahn's (1990) ethnographic work, a field study in a U.S. Midwestern insurance company explored the determinants and mediating effects of three psychological conditions — meaningfulness, safety and availability — on employees' engagement in their work. Results from the revised theoretical framework revealed that all three psychological conditions exhibited significant positive relations with engagement. Meaningfulness displayed the strongest relation. Job enrichment and work role fit were positively linked to psychological meaningfulness. Rewarding co‐worker and supportive supervisor relations were positively associated with psychological safety, whereas adherence to co‐worker norms and self‐consciousness were negatively associated. Psychological availability was positively related to resources available and negatively related to participation in outside activities. Finally, the relations of job enrichment and work role fit with engagement were both fully mediated by the psychological condition of meaningfulness. The association between adherence to co‐worker norms and engagement was partially mediated by psychological safety. Theoretical and practical implications related to psychological engagement at work are discussed.