Transformational Leadership and Work Engagement: An Affect Perspective

Abstract

Abstract:

Previous studies suggest that transformational leadership would facilitate work engagement. However, the mechanism underlying such process remains unclear. Therefore, this study aims to fill the gap by investigating the mediating effect of positive affect and moderating effect of emotional intelligence. We collect data from 211 employees in a public service organization and use established measures to capture key variables in this study. The reliabilities of all scales are above 0.70. Multiple regression, confirmatory factor analysis and moderated mediation model are employed to analyze data. Confirmatory factor analysis indicates the four key variables are discriminated. Regression analysis shows that transformational leadership is positively associated with work engagement, and it is mediated by positive affect. In addition, emotional intelligence moderates the relationship between transformational leadership and positive affect. Specifically, the relationship is less positive when emotional intelligence is high rather than low. Moreover, moderated mediation analysis find that emotional intelligence moderates the indirect effect of positive affect. In particular, the mediation effect of positive affect is more positive and stronger when emotional intelligence is low. Contributions, practical implications and limitations are discussed.

Key words: transformational leadership, work engagement, positive affect, emotional intelligence

Wang Zhen, Chen Leni, Li Xupei. Transformational Leadership and Work Engagement: An Affect Perspective[J]. , 2015, 27(9): 120-129,212.

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