Abstract
The study aimed to explore the perception of the leader as a security provider as a potential mediator of the relationship between work engagement and perceived general and citizenship work performance. Five hundred and forty-two adults completed the Leader as a security provider scale, Utrecht work engagement scale, General work performance questionnaire, and Citizenship organizational behavior questionnaire to self-report on their organizational behaviors. The perception of the leader as a secure attachment figure partially mediated loyalty and adherence to the organization's rules in engaged employees. Perceived separation distress can increase interpersonal citizenship performance; however, it can decrease organizational compliance in engaged employees. Fear of losing the leader can potentially harm the organizational goals by favoring the personal relationships before organizational compliance.
Highlights
The application of attachment theory in work and organizational settings has gained a lot of relevance in recent years [1,2,3]
We conclude that the demographics have no significant impact on measured variables. These findings agree with no differences in demographics for perceiving a leader as a security provider [24] or employee engagement [37]
The direct effect of work engagement on general work performance was significant (Estimate of direct effect = .281, SE = .031, z = 9.143, p < .001), indicating that the perception of the leader as a security provider has no effect on general work performance as a mediator, nor any of its dimensions
Summary
The application of attachment theory in work and organizational settings has gained a lot of relevance in recent years [1,2,3]. Since job performance is critical to organizational effectiveness, applying attachment theory to explore factors contributing to enhanced job performance improvement might be important. Understanding employee engagement through the lens of employee attachment to their organizational leader, has a potential to explain the link between. The attachment patterns with their attachment figures inform children’s internal working models—mental representations of themselves and other people with whom they form relationships. These internal working models affect behavior, thinking, and perception in all attachment relationships [7], and, contribute to the development of a global attachment model [9]. Global models represent the entire history of significant relationships and serve as
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