上行下效:工作场所宽恕的涓滴模型

The Subordinates will Follow the Example Set by Their Superiors: A Trickle-Down Model of Workplace Forgiveness

宽恕作为一种积极地应对冲突与冒犯的策略,受到了学术界的广泛关注。以往研究对员工宽恕的影响因素有过一些探讨,但少有研究从领导视角来考察其对员工宽恕的影响。基于此,本研究根据社会学习理论,构建了领导宽恕通过影响员工宽恕,进而作用于员工的同事信任以及工作满意度的涓滴模型。采用问卷调查法,以47名直属主管和276名员工为样本,运用多层线性模型、相关分析、验证性因子分析等方法进行统计分析。跨层次分析结果表明:领导宽恕对员工宽恕有积极的影响;员工宽恕对同事信任与工作满意度均有显著的正向作用;员工宽恕在领导宽恕与同事信任以及工作满意度之间起中介作用。

In organizations, conflict and offense are ubiquitous parts of everyday life. As organizations increasingly adopt teams as primary work units, the frequency and intensity of workplace offenses will increase. As a coping strategy for dealing with workplace offense, forgiveness has received enthusiastic attention from researchers. A burgeoning body of research on forgiveness has shown that forgiveness is associated with positive outcomes, such as physical health, psychological health, helping behavior, end job satisfaction. A growing body of literature about forgiveness has focus on psychology, religion, theology, end other areas. There is a notable lack of research on forgiveness in the field of organizational sciences. In addition, previous studies affirm the influence of some factors on employees＇ forgiveness, such as hierarchical status, attribution of responsibility, overall justice, procedural justice climate, forgiveness climate, cohesive climate, end supportive climate. The past research has identified a number of individual-level and team-level variables that predict employees＇ forgiveness in response to perceived offense. However, less study has been devoted to explore how leader influence employees＇ forgiveness. Based on social learning theory, we propose that leaders＇ forgiveness may influence employees＇ forgiveness, which subsequently affect their coworker trust and job satisfaction. In order to avoid the problem of common methods bias, we examined the proposed hypotheses with the matched field data collected from 47 supervisors end 276 employees in Guizhou, Zhejiang end Guangdong provinces. Employees were asked to provide ratings of employees＇ forgiveness, coworker trust and job satisfaction. Supervisors＇ survey contained measures of leaders＇ forgiveness. We tested the distinctiveness of the study variables using structural equationmodel, hierarchical linear model and bootstrap methods. The results of hierarchical linear model revealed that： （1） leaders＇ forgiveness is positively related to their employees＇ forgiveness; （2） employees＇ forgiveness had significant positive effects on coworker trust and job satisfaction; and （3） leaders＇ forgiveness influences employees＇ forgiveness, which subsequently affects their coworker trust and job satisfaction. All our proposed hypotheses were supported. Our findings contribute to the literature in several ways. First, this research develops leaders＇ forgiveness questionnaire. This questionnaire has good reliability and validity, which is available for the measurement tool of leaders＇ forgiveness. Second, according to social learning theory, this study finds that leaders＇ forgiveness has trickle-down effect on employees＇ forgiveness. Thirdly, this research suggests leaders＇ forgiveness influence employees＇ forgiveness, which subsequently affects their coworker trust. This finding integrates forgiveness with coworker trust, which not only expands the current literature of coworker trust. From a practical point of view, our findings provide some insights into how managers enhance employees＇ forgiveness, coworker trust, and job satisfaction. Our results suggest that leaders＇ forgiveness is instrumental in promoting employees＇ forgiveness. Leaders＇ forgiveness can be used to enhance coworker trust and job satisfaction. In conclusion, the effectiveness of leadership programs aimed at enhancing leaders＇ forgiveness can be further improved by incorporating leaders＇ forgiveness skills in the training program.