Enhancing affective commitment through transcendental leadership: unveiling the influence of altruistic mindset and intrinsic motivation in higher education

Abstract

ABSTRACT Affective commitment is critical to organizational success, reflecting employees’ emotional attachment to their organization. Transcendental leadership inspires followers to pursue higher purposes and ideals, a powerful leadership approach. However, the specific mechanisms through which transcendental leadership influences affective commitment are unclear. This study used an altruistic mind-set as a mediator and intrinsic motivation as a moderator to examine transcendental leadership’s influence on employees’ affective commitment. A multistage sampling technique was used as part of the sampling process. A cross-sectional design with self-administered questionnaires and web-based surveys was adopted to collect data from respondents. We gathered over 300 valid responses from employees as lecturers, assistant professors, associate professors, or professors at universities in Lahore and Islamabad. Altruistic mind-sets impact affective commitment significantly, and altruistic mind-sets have also been shown to mediate the relationship between transcendental leadership and affective commitment partially. Furthermore, intrinsic motivation has also been found to be a moderating factor between transcendental leadership and affective commitment. Findings show that organizations must promote leaders or managers to create value for their teams and encourage them to go the extra mile. This research validates transcendental leadership theory and provides insights into how transcendental leadership affects positive work outcomes.