How and when paradoxical leadership benefits work engagement: The role of goal clarity and work autonomy
Journal
Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2021-02-17
Author(s)
Abstract
Paradoxical leadership behaviour (PLB) represents an emerging leadership construct that can help leaders deal with conflicting demands. In this paper, we report three studies that add to this nascent literature theoretically, methodologically, and empirically. In Study 1, we validate an effective short-form measure of global PLB using three different samples. In Studies 2 and 3, we draw on the job demands–resources model to propose that paradoxical leaders promote followers’ work engagement by simultaneously fostering follower goal clarity and work autonomy. The results of survey data from Studies 2 and 3 largely confirm our model. Specifically, our findings show that PLB is positively associated with follower goal clarity and work autonomy, and that PLB exerts an indirect effect on work engagement via these variables. Moreover, our results support a hypothesized interaction effect of goal clarity and work autonomy to predict followers’ work engagement, as well as a conditional indirect effect of PLB on work engagement via the interactive effect. We discuss the practical implications for leaders and organizations.
Language
English
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
The British Psychological Society
Volume
94
Number
3
Start page
672
End page
705
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
264489