The relationship between servant leadership and nurses' in-role performance: The sequential mediating effects of job autonomy and emotional exhaustion

AIMS

Drawing on the conservation of resources theory, this study examines the underlying process through which servant leadership is associated with nurses' in-role performance. Specifically, we test the indirect effect of servant leadership on in-role performance via a sequential mediating mechanism of job autonomy and emotional exhaustion.

DESIGN

A time-lagged design was implemented using data gathered from two-wave online surveys (1 week apart) of registered nurses from Jiangsu Province, China.

METHODS

Between September 2022 and February 2023, we used Wenjuanxing and Credma, which are two powerful and user-friendly data collection platforms, to distribute online surveys to potential participants. We received a total of 220 usable responses and employed the PROCESS Model 4 and Model 6 to assess our proposed hypotheses.

RESULTS

Our proposed model was supported. Servant leadership has a positive indirect effect on nurses' in-role performance through job autonomy and emotional exhaustion. Job autonomy has a negative effect on emotional exhaustion. Additionally, job autonomy mediates the negative relationship between servant leadership and emotional exhaustion.

CONCLUSION

The present research extends existing nursing studies by unravelling the complex mechanisms underlying the relationship between servant leadership and nurses' in-role performance. Our study also identifies the underlying mechanism of how servant leadership mitigates emotional exhaustion by supporting nurses' job autonomy.

IMPACT

The sequential mediation results provide us with a more fine-grained understanding of the relationship between servant leadership and nurses' in-role performance. It further promotes job autonomy and decreases emotional exhaustion, which supports the UN Sustainable Development Goal #3 (Good Health and Well-being).

PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION

This study addresses the UN Sustainable Development Goal #3: 'To ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages' and the healthcare providers will benefit from our study. Therefore, the study contributes to a more sustainable organization and society.

A within-person examination of the effect of mentors' daily ostracism on protégés' displaced aggression and in-role performance

Purpose

Drawing on social information processing theory and social comparison theory, we test how mentors' daily ostracism triggers protégés' envy, thus leading to decreased in-role performance and increased displaced aggression.

Design/methodology/approach

Using an experience sampling study across three work weeks, the study provided theoretical and empirical examinations of dynamic, within-person processes related to mentors' ostracism.

Findings

Mentors' daily ostracism triggers protégés' envy, which mediates the effect of mentors' daily ostracism on protégés' displaced aggression and in-role performance. Our findings supported our hypothesis of the buffering effect of mentorship quality on the negative effect of mentors' ostracism on protégés' envy but did not show a significant moderating effect on the mediating effect of protégés' emotions between mentors' daily ostracism and protégés' behaviors.

Research limitations/implications

Our study focused on the victims of mentors' ostracism on a daily basis. We constructed an overarching theoretical model to investigate how, why, and when mentors' daily ostracism leads to protégés' emotional and behavioral variability.

Practical implications

The study provided how to cope with ostracism and envy.

Originality/value

We discuss the theoretical implications of our findings for research on mentors' ostracism, protégés' emotions, and protégés' behaviors.

Challenge or Hindrance? The Dual Path Effect of Perceived Task Demand on In-Role Performance and Work Fatigue

The evidence for the existence of perceived task demand is paradoxical. The purpose of the present study is to explore whether perceived task demand is a challenge or a hindrance stressor. To achieve this research purpose, based on conservation of resources theory, a conceptual model is developed that utilizes both a resource acquisition path and a resource depletion path. Using the experience-sampling method, over five consecutive days, 370 matched data were collected via mobile phone from 74 full-time employees in mainland China. The results show that perceived task demand has the characteristics of both challenge and hindrance stressors. On the one hand, perceived task demand enhances employees' cognitive engagement, thereby facilitating task performance (resource acquisition path). On the other hand, perceived task demand boosts employees' cognitive strain, thereby increasing work fatigue and decreasing in-role performance (resource depletion path). This research offers a comprehensive understanding of perceived task demand and provides strategies for task demand management.

Misinformation and work-related outcomes of healthcare community: Sequential mediation role of COVID-19 threat and psychological distress

By applying coping theory, this study develops and tests a process model investigating the sequential mediating roles of perceived COVID-19 threat and psychological distress on the relationships between social media misinformation and turnover intentions, and in-role performance. Hypothesized model for Study 1 was fully supported, showing that the association between social media misinformation and turnover intentions are each mediated sequentially, first by perceived COVID-19 threat and then by psychological distress. Additional support was found for the sequential mediation model when predicting turnover intentions and in-role performance in Study 2, using time-lagged data. Besides, this study found that resilience moderated social media misinformation's sequential indirect effect on turnover intentions and in-role performance. Implications and future research directions have been discussed.

Different Effects of Supervisor Positive and Negative Feedback on Subordinate In-Role and Extra-Role Performance: The Moderating Role of Regulatory Focus

As an important tool for supervisors to intervene subordinates’ work and influence their performance, supervisor feedback has gradually become a new academic research hotspot. In this study, we build and verify a theoretical model to explore the different effects of supervisor positive and negative feedback on subordinate in-role and extra-role performance, and the moderating role of regulatory focus in these relationships. With data from pairing samples of 403 Chinese employees and their direct supervisors, the results indicate that supervisor positive feedback is positively related to subordinate in-role and extra-role performance. Supervisor negative feedback is positively related to subordinate in-role performance and negatively related to subordinate extra-role performance. Regulatory focus of subordinate can moderate the influence of supervisor positive feedback on subordinate in-role and extra-role performance, but it cannot moderate the influence of supervisor negative feedback on subordinate in-role and extra-role performance. That means when subordinates have promotion focus, the influence of supervisor positive feedback on their in-role performance and extra-role performance was stronger than those with prevention focus. These results further enrich the research on the relationship between supervisor feedback and subordinate performance, especially the different effects of positive and negative feedback from supervisor on subordinate with different regulatory focus. All conclusions from the analyses above not only further verify and develop some previous points on supervisor feedback and subordinate performance, but also derive certain management implications for promoting subordinate in-role and extra-role performance from the perspective of supervisor positive and negative feedback.

Development of a Measure of Calculative Mindset (CM): Establishing a Nomological Net and Predictive Utility of the CM Measure

A calculative mindset (CM) describes the tendency to analyze and convert qualitative social values into numeric or monetary metrics and is a predisposition that shapes behaviors and actions of the employee. CM has been manipulated in experimental studies, but it has not been investigated in field research due to the absence of a scale to measure CM. In study 1, we followed Hinkin's scale development protocol to conceptualize, develop, and validate a measure of CM to facilirate research in organizational contexts. In Study 2, we examined the relationship between CM and measures of performance, counterproductive work behavior (CWB), organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB), and in role-performance (IRP). Results from hierarchical regression analyses indicate that CM is related to these performance outcomes and explains incremental variance over established measures of the Five-Factor Model of personality. Implications for personality research, selection of human resources, and facilitation of an ethical workplace are discussed.

Leader Behavioral Integrity and Employee In-Role Performance: The Roles of Coworker Support and Job Autonomy

The positive relationship between leader behavioral integrity and an employee’s in-role performance is well-established, but explanations for why this effect exists are still in a nascent stage. Drawing upon leader behavioral integrity theory and job-demands resources theory, the authors explain how leader behavioral integrity facilitates employee in-role performance and the boundary conditions influencing the relationship between leader behavioral integrity and employee in-role performance. Using multisource data from 209 employee-manager dyads in South Korea, this paper found support for the mediating effect of coworker support in the positive relationship between leader behavior integrity and employees’ in-role autonomy. Furthermore, compared to those who perceive low job autonomy, the positive indirect effect of leader behavioral integrity on in-role performance via coworker support was stronger for employees who perceive high job autonomy. The findings emphasize the importance of a leader’s individual difference (i.e., leader behavioral integrity) and job resources (i.e., job autonomy) facilitating the receipt of team members’ supporting behaviors which, in turn, energize employee in-role performance. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Flourishing-at-Work: The Role of Positive Organizational Practices

The first aim of the study was to investigate the effects of flourishing at work (as measured by the Flourishing-at-Work Scale-Short Form) on intention to leave, performance, and organizational citizenship behavior. The second aim was to determine the prevalence of workplace flourishing and to examine differences in the perceived flourishing levels of teachers based on the positive practices they experience in their organization. A sample of 258 secondary school educators in the Gauteng province of South Africa was used in the cross-sectional design. The Flourishing-at-Work Scale-Short Form, Turnover Intention Scale, In-Role Behavior Scale, Organizational Citizenship Behavior Scale, and the Positive Practices Questionnaire were administered. The results showed acceptable psychometric properties for the short scale which measures flourishing. Workplace flourishing negatively predicted intention to leave, while positively predicting in-role performance and organizational citizenship behavior. A total of 44.19% of the population flourished, while 49.22% were moderately mentally healthy and 6.59% languished. Positive organizational practices were associated with flourishing at work.

Employees' Perceived Opportunities to Craft and In-Role Performance: The Mediating Role of Job Crafting and Work Engagement

The present study was designed to gain knowledge of the relationship between employees’ perceived opportunities to craft, their actual job crafting behavior and, in line with JD-R theory, subsequently their work engagement and performance. Although scholars have suggested that employees’ perceived opportunities to craft their job may predict their actual job crafting behavior, which may have consequences for their well-being and performance, no study has examined the relationships between these variables. We collected data among a heterogeneous group of Dutch employees (N = 2090). Participants of the study reported their perceived opportunities to craft, job crafting behavior, work engagement and performance. Results indicated that individuals who experience a high level of opportunities to craft reported higher levels of job crafting behavior. In turn, perceived opportunities to craft and job crafting behavior related to higher levels of work engagement and subsequently performance. We discuss the implications of these findings for theory and practice.