Authentic Leadership - Empirical Tests of Its Effects on Employees and Mediating Mechanisms -

Abstract

The main purposes of this study were to investigate the effect of authentic leadership and to describe its potential linkage to occupational self-efficacy, interpersonal trust, work engagement, and role-based performance. The unit of analysis was at the level of employees. To achieve research goals, this study employed several statistical techniques such as a series of three regression proposed by Baron & Kenny (1986) and structural equation modeling (SEM). A total of approximately 2,500 Korean workers were selected as potential survey participants, and of these, 365 workers participated in the survey. After screening and deleting missing data and an outlier, a total of 336 cases were included as the final research sample. Through comprehensive literature review this study found that there could be influential and positive relationships among the five variables previously stated. The first finding was that authentic leadership had a positive and statistically significant influence on employees’ attitudes in terms of their occupational self-efficacy and interpersonal trust, and on employees’ behavior in terms of work engagement. Another finding was that employees’ attitudes and organizational behavior positively influenced role-based performance. Moreover, the results demonstrated that occupational self-efficacy and interpersonal trust partially mediated the effect of authentic leadership on work engagement. Work engagement also partially acted as a mediator in the relationship between occupational self-efficacy and role-based performance, as well as in the relationship between interpersonal trust and role-based performance.