谦卑领导行为与下属工作投入:有中介的调节模型

Humble Leadership Behavior and Subordinates' Work Engagement:A Mediated Moderation Model

谦卑领导行为是近年来新出现的一个广受研究者和管理实务者关注的领导主题,其有效性和作用机制有待更多实证研究的深入探讨。基于自我概念衍生理论视角,采用问卷调查法收集375份员工数据,在检验共同方法偏差和问卷信效度的基础上,通过有中介的调节作用检验程序,考察谦卑领导行为对下属工作投入的影响,并探讨下属组织自尊的中介作用和权力距离的调节作用。研究结果表明,谦卑领导行为能够显著正向预测下属的工作投入;下属的权力距离在谦卑领导行为与下属工作投入关系间发挥有中介的调节作用,对于高权力距离的下属,谦卑领导行为对其工作投入的积极影响更强;下属权力距离的调节作用通过下属组织自尊的中介实现,当下属权力距离较高时,谦卑领导行为通过下属组织自尊的中介对其工作投入产生的积极影响更加强烈。

The economic globalization and rapid development of science and technology make the competition among enterprises fierce. Increasingly complex competition environment puts forward higher requirements for enterprise leaders. Against this back- drop, humble leadership behavior receives more and more attention from OB researchers and management practitioners in recent years as a new topic in the area of leadership research. Despite widespread belief that humble leadership behavior affects a range of employee and organizational outcomes, empirical studies of humble leadership behavior are extremely rare. The effectiveness and mechanism of humble leadership behavior need to be empirically explored more and in-depth. Some studies have shown that humble leadership behavior may fuel subordinates＇ work engagement. However, scholars have not yet informed the boundary conditions that impact the relationship between humble leadership behavior and subordinates＇ work en- gagement. The mechanism of how humble leadership behavior facilitates subordinates＇ work engagement is also unknown. Build- ing upon but going beyond the self-consistency theory and self-enhancement theory, we construct a mediated moderation model. This model outlines the way in which the impact of humble leadership behavior on subordinates＇ work engagement varies accord- ing to subordinates＇ power distance. We propose that the relationship between humble leadership behavior and subordinates＇ work engagement is enhanced by subordinates＇ power distance via their organization-based self-esteem（OBSE）. 375 employees were surveyed with self-report questionnaire in order to test this mediated moderator model. Results show that humble leadership behavior exerts significantly positive effect on subordinates＇ work engagement; subordinates＇ power distance moderates this effect in which humble leadership behavior has stronger influence on subordinates＇ work engagement who are higher in power distance. And, the moderating effect of subordinates＇ power distance on the relation between humble leadership behavior and subordinates＇ work engagement is mediated by subordinates＇ OBSE. In particular, to the subordinates with higher power distance, humble leadership behavior can positively influence their work engagement more intense through the mediation of OBSE. These findings indicate that humble leadership behavior really can effectively stimulate subordinates＇ work engagement. Besides, this study also reveals the mediational mechanism and boundary condition when humble leadership behavior positively affects subordinates＇ work engagement. The study improves the understanding of the value of humble leadership behavior on subordinates＇ work attitudes and behaviors, which will contribute to both theoretical development and practical implications. On the one hand, we need to re-understand the important value of humble leadership behavior to leadership effectiveness and management success. On the other hand, leaders should express humble leadership behavior according to the characteristics of the subordinates. Future researches can follow up and expand from the following aspects. Firstly, further investigation into humble leadership be- havior＇s effect on other important psychological and behavioral outcomes（e, g. , creativity, voice etc. ） can be done. Secondly, other theoretical perspectives need to be introduced to understand how humble leadership behavior affects subordinates＇ OBSE and work engagement. Thirdly, methods of longitudinal or experimental study can be used to explore the effectiveness of humble lead- ership behavior.