The moderating role of employee socioeconomic status in the relationship between leadership and well-being: A meta-analysis and representative survey.

Abstract

We investigated the moderating role of employee socioeconomic status (SES) in the relationship between leadership and employee well-being. Leadership forms an important predictor of how (un)well employees feel. Conceptualizing leadership effects and employee SES from a job demands-resources perspective, we propose that the relationship between leadership and employee well-being is stronger among employees with lower SES. These workers tend to have fewer resources and can benefit more from constructive leadership, but are burdened more by destructive leadership. We find support for this in two studies: In the first, a comprehensive meta-analysis of 219 studies and 241 independent samples (N = 120.596), we found that two markers of lower employee SES (i.e., lower education and lower occupation status) moderate the relationship of constructive and destructive leader behaviors with well-being. In the second study, we analyzed a large-scale representative employee sample (N = 62.602) and extended these findings by examining nonpermanent work contract as an additional occupation facet, and low income as another marker of lower SES. Additionally, we show that resources (autonomy, self-efficacy) and demands (work pressure, cognitive demands) represent possible mechanisms through which constructive and destructive leadership relate to well-being. Specifically, the indirect relationship of constructive and destructive leadership with well-being, through job demands and resources, was generally stronger among employees with lower SES. In addition, the findings provide support for a stronger role of leadership in the well-being of employees with lower SES, a large group of employees who are oftentimes not the central focus of leadership scholars or organizations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).