The present study aims at gaining insights into the underlying mechanisms leading from leaders’ resources to their transformational behavior. Based on the Job Demands-Resources theory, we hypothesized that leaders’ personal (self-efficacy) and job (role clarity) resources eventually enhance their performance, more specifically their transformational leadership, through fostering work engagement. Further, we proposed that the link between work engagement and transformational behavior is moderated by leaders’ affective commitment, drawing on Social Identity Theory. Data were collected from N = 216 German leaders in 2020 via an online survey. Hypotheses were tested by applying a moderated mediation model linking resources, engagement, commitment, and leadership behavior. The problem of potential endogeneity was further addressed. As predicted, both self-efficacy and role clarity enhanced leaders’ transformational behavior, mediated through work engagement. The relationship between leaders’ work engagement and performance was stronger when they felt a strong belonging and emotional attachment to their organization, that is, high affective commitment.
AllenN. J.MeyerJ. P. (1990). The measurement and antecedents of affective, continuance and normative commitment to the organization. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 63(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8325.1990.tb00506.x
2.
AubéC.RousseauV.MorinE. M. (2007). Perceived organizational support and organizational commitment. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 22(5), 479–495. https://doi.org/10.1108/02683940710757209
3.
AvolioB. J.WaldmanD. A.YammarinoF. J. (1991). Leading in the 1990s: The four I′s of transformational leadership. Journal of European Industrial Training, 15(4), 309–590. https://doi.org/10.1108/03090599110143366
4.
BakkerA. B.DemeroutiE. (2017). Job demands–resources theory: Taking stock and looking forward. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 22(3), 273–285. https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000056
5.
BakkerA. B.DemeroutiE.Sanz-VergelA. I. (2014). Burnout and work engagement: The JD–R approach. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 1(1), 389–411. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-031413-091235
6.
BakkerA. B.SchaufeliW.LeiterM. P.TarisT. W. (2008). Work engagement: An emerging concept in occupational health psychology. Work and Stress, 22(3), 187–200. https://doi.org/10.1080/02678370802393649
BarbutoJ. E. (2005). Motivation and transactional, charismatic, and transformational leadership: A test of antecedents. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 11(4), 26–40. https://doi.org/10.1177/107179190501100403
9.
BassB. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectation. Free Press.
10.
BeckerT. E.BillingsR. S.EvelethD. M.GilbertN. L. (1996). Foci and bases of employee commitment: Implications for job performance. Academy of Management Journal, 39(2), 464–482. https://doi.org/10.5465/256788
11.
BennettN.LemoineG. J. (2014). What a difference a word makes: Understanding threats to performance in a VUCA world. Business Horizons, 57(3), 311–317. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2014.01.001
12.
BorstR. T.KruyenP. M.LakoC. J.de VriesM. S. (2020). The attitudinal, behavioral, and performance outcomes of work engagement: A comparative meta-analysis across the public, semipublic, and private sector. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 40(4), 613–640. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734371X19840399
13.
BrandmoC.AasM.ColbjørnsenT.OlsenR. (2021). Group coaching that promotes self-efficacy and role clarity among school leaders. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 65(2), 195–211. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2019.1659406
14.
BrandtT.LaihoM. (2013). Gender and personality in transformational leadership context. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 34(1), 44–66. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437731311289965
15.
BrayS. R.BrawleyL. R. (2002). Role efficacy, role clarity, and role performance effectiveness. Small Group Research, 33(2), 233–253. https://doi.org/10.1177/104649640203300204
16.
BresóE.SchaufeliW. B.SalanovaM. (2011). Can a self-efficacy-based intervention decrease burnout, increase engagement, and enhance performance? A quasi-experimental study. Higher Education, 61(4), 339–355. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-010-9334-6
17.
CaoJ.LiuC.ZhouY.DuanK. (2020). Work-to-family conflict, job burnout, and project success among construction professionals: The moderating role of affective commitment. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(8), 2902. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17082902
18.
CarlessS. A.WearingA. J.MannL. (2000). A short measure of transformational leadership. Journal of Business and Psychology, 14(3), 389–405. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022991115523
19.
ChungM.JangY.-H.EdelsonS. A. (2021). The path from role clarity to job satisfaction: Natural acting and the moderating impact of perceived fairness of compensation in services. Service Business, 15(1), 77–102. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11628-020-00434-5
20.
DávilaM.GarcíaG. (2012). Organizational identification and commitment: Correlates of sense of belonging and affective commitment. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 15(1), 244–255. https://doi.org/10.5209/rev_SJOP.2012.v15.n1.37316
21.
de DevottoR. P.MachadoW. d. L.VazquezA. C. S.de FreitasC. P. P. (2020). Work engagement and job crafting of brazilian professionals. Revista Psicologia Organizações e Trabalho, 20(1), 869–876. https://doi.org/10.17652/rpot/2020.1.16185
22.
DonaldsonS. I.Grant-ValloneE. J. (2002). Understanding self-report bias in organizational behavior research. Journal of Business and Psychology, 17(2), 245–260. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1019637632584
23.
DuraisingamV.RocheA. M.KostadinovV.HodgeS.ChapmanJ. (2020). Predictors of work engagement among Australian non-government drug and alcohol employees: Implications for policy and practice. International Journal of Drug Policy, 76, 102638. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2019.102638
24.
D’ZurillaT. J.Maydeu-OlivaresA.Gallardo-PujolD. (2011). Predicting social problem solving using personality traits. Personality and Individual Differences, 50(2), 142–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2010.09.015
25.
FitzgeraldS.SchutteN. S. (2010). Increasing transformational leadership through enhancing self‐efficacy. Journal of Management Development, 29(5), 495–505. https://doi.org/10.1108/02621711011039240
26.
Fors BrandeboM.ÖsterbergJ.BerglundA. K. (2019). The impact of constructive and destructive leadership on soldier’s job satisfaction. Psychological Reports, 122(3), 1068-1086.
27.
HairJ. E.AndersonR. E.TathamR. L.BlackW. C. (1998). Multivariate data analysis (5th ed.). Prentice Hall.
28.
HayesA. F. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. The Guilford Press. https://doi.org/10.1111/jedm.12050
HentrichS.ZimberA.GarbadeS. F.GregersenS.NienhausA.PetermannF. (2017). Relationships between transformational leadership and health: The mediating role of perceived job demands and occupational self-efficacy. International Journal of Stress Management, 24(1), 34–61. https://doi.org/10.1037/str0000027
31.
HolbecheL. (2015). The Agile organization: How to build an innovative, sustainable and resilient business. Kogan Page Publishers.
32.
HunterL. W.ThatcherS. M. B. (2007). Feeling the heat: Effects of stress, commitment, and job experience on job performance. Academy of Management Journal, 50(4), 953–968. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2007.26279227
33.
HurH. (2019). Job security matters: A systematic review and meta-analysis of the relationship between job security and work attitudes. Journal of Management & Organization, 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2019.3
34.
JanssensH.De ZutterP.GeensT.VogtG.BraeckmanL. (2019). Do personality traits determine work engagement? Results from a Belgian study. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 61(1), 29–34. https://doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0000000000001458
35.
JaramilloF.MulkiJ. P.MarshallG. W. (2005). A meta-analysis of the relationship between organizational commitment and salesperson job performance: 25 years of research. Journal of Business Research, 58(6), 705–714. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2003.10.004
36.
JohnO. P.DonahueE. M.KentleR. L. (1991). Big five inventory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/t07550-000
KaluzaA. J.BoerD.BuengelerC.van DickR. (2019). Leadership behaviour and leader self-reported well-being: A review, integration and meta-analytic examination. Work and Stress, 34(1), 34–56. https://doi.org/10.1080/02678373.2019.1617369
39.
KimW. (2017). Examining mediation effects of work engagement among job resources, job performance, and turnover intention. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 29(4), 407–425. https://doi.org/10.1002/piq.21235
40.
KohnM. L.SchoolerC. (1982). Job conditions and personality: A longitudinal assessment of their reciprocal effects. American Journal of Sociology, 87(6), 1257–1286. https://doi.org/10.1086/227593
LesenerT.GusyB.JochmannA.WolterC. (2020). The drivers of work engagement: A meta-analytic review of longitudinal evidence. Work & Stress, 34(3), 259–278. https://doi.org/10.1080/02678373.2019.1686440
43.
LlorensS.SchaufeliW.BakkerA.SalanovaM. (2007). Does a positive gain spiral of resources, efficacy beliefs and engagement exist?Computers in Human Behavior, 23(1), 825–841. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2004.11.012
44.
LuszczynskaA.TryburcyM.SchwarzerR. (2006). Improving fruit and vegetable consumption: A self-efficacy intervention compared with a combined self-efficacy and planning intervention. Health Education Research, 22(5), 630–638. https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cyl133
LyonsT. F. (1971). Role clarity, need for clarity, satisfaction, tension, and withdrawal. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 6(1), 99–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/0030-5073(71)90007-9
47.
MacKinnonD. P.CoxeS.BaraldiA. N. (2012). Guidelines for the investigation of mediating variables in business research. Journal of Business and Psychology, 27(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-011-9248-z
48.
MariqueG.StinglhamberF. (2011). Identification to proximal targets and affective organizational commitment. Journal of Personnel Psychology, 10(3), 107–117. https://doi.org/10.1027/1866-5888/a000040
49.
MayerR. C.SchoormanF. D. (1992). Predicting participation and production outcomes through a two-dimensional model of organizational commitment. Academy of Management Journal, 35(3), 671–684. https://doi.org/10.5465/256492
50.
MeyerJ. P.BeckerT. E.VandenbergheC. (2004). Employee commitment and motivation: a conceptual analysis and integrative model. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(6), 991–1007. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.89.6.991
51.
MeyerJ. P.StanleyD. J.HerscovitchL.TopolnytskyL. (2002). Affective, continuance, and normative commitment to the organization: A meta-analysis of antecedents, correlates, and consequences. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 61(1), 20–52. https://doi.org/10.1006/jvbe.2001.1842
52.
MowdayR. T.PorterL. W.SteersR. (1982). Organizational linkages: The psychology of commitment, absenteeism, and turnover. Academic Press.
53.
MuthénL. K.MuthénB. O. (2007). Mplus. Muthén & Muthén.
54.
NgT. W. H. (2017). Transformational leadership and performance outcomes: Analyses of multiple mediation pathways. Leadership Quarterly, 28(3), 385–417. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2016.11.008
55.
NormanS. M.AveyJ. B.NimnichtJ. L.Graber PigeonN. (2010). The interactive effects of psychological capital and organizational identity on employee organizational citizenship and deviance behaviors. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 17(4), 380–391. https://doi.org/10.1177/1548051809353764
56.
NüblingM.StößelU.HasselhornH.MichaelisM.HofmannF. (2005). Methoden zur Erfassung psychischer Belastungen. Bremerhaven: Wirtschaftsverlag NW.
57.
Paustian-UnderdahlS. C.WalkerL. S.WoehrD. J. (2014). Gender and perceptions of leadership effectiveness: A meta-analysis of contextual moderators. Journal of Applied Psychology, 99(6), 1129–1145. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0036751
58.
PengJ.LiM.WangZ.LinY. (2020). Transformational leadership and employees’ reactions to organizational change: Evidence from a meta-analysis. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 57(3), 369–397. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021886320920366
59.
PodsakoffP. M.MacKenzieS. B.LeeJ.-Y.PodsakoffN. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 879–903. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.5.879
60.
QuigleyN. R. (2003). The relationship between leader core self-evaluations, team feedback, leader efficacy, transformational leadership, team efficacy, team goals, team action and transition processes, and team performance. University of Maryland, College Park.
61.
RikettaM. (2002). Attitudinal organizational commitment and job performance: a meta-analysis. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 23(3), 257–266. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.141
62.
SajonsG. B. (2020). Estimating the causal effect of measured endogenous variables: A tutorial on experimentally randomized instrumental variables. The Leadership Quarterly, 31(5), 101348. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2019.101348
63.
SarganJ. D. (1958). The estimation of economic relationships using instrumental variables. Econometrica, 26(3), 393. https://doi.org/10.2307/1907619
64.
SchaufeliW.BakkerA. B.SalanovaM. (2006). The measurement of work engagement with a short questionnaire: A cross-national study. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 66(4), 701–716. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164405282471
65.
ScheibeS.WalterF.ZhanY. (2021). Age and emotions in organizations: Main, moderating, and context-specific effects. Work, Aging and Retirement, 7(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1093/workar/waaa030
66.
SchmidtK.-H.HollmannS.SodenkampD. (1998). Psychometrische Eigenschaften und Validität einer deutschen Fassung des “Commitment”-Fragebogens von Allen und Meyer (1990). [Psychometric properties and validity of a German version of Allen and Meyer’s (1990) questionnaire for measuring organizational c. Zeitschrift Für Differentielle Und Diagnostische Psychologie, 19(2), 93–106.
67.
SchuppJ.GerlitzJ.-Y. (2014). Big Five Inventory-SOEP (BFI-S). Zusammenstellung sozialwissenschaftlicher Items und Skalen (ZIS). https://doi.org/10.6102/zis54
68.
SchwarzerR.JerusalemM. (1995). Skalen zur Erfassung von Lehrer- und Schülermerkmalen. In Dokumentation der psychometrischen Verfahren im Rahmen der Wissenschaftlichen Begleitung des Modellversuchs Selbstwirksame Schulen, 144. Berlin: Freie Universität Berlin.
69.
SchwarzerR.JerusalemM. (1999). Skalen zur Erfassung von Lehrer- und Schülermerkmalen: Dokumentation der psychometrischen Verfahren im Rahmen der Wissenschaftlichen Begleitung des Modellversuchs Selbstwirksame Schulen. Berlin. https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.307
70.
SemadeniM.WithersM. C.Trevis CertoS. (2014). The perils of endogeneity and instrumental variables in strategy research: Understanding through simulations. Strategic Management Journal, 35(7), 1070–1079. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2136
71.
SiemsenE.RothA.OliveiraP. (2010). Common method bias in regression models with linear, quadratic, and interaction effects. Organizational Research Methods, 13(3), 456–476. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094428109351241
72.
StockJ. H.WrightJ. H.YogoM. (2002). A survey of weak instruments and weak identification in generalized method of moments. Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, 20(4), 518–529. https://doi.org/10.1198/073500102288618658
73.
StreinerD. L. (2003). Starting at the beginning: An introduction to coefficient alpha and internal consistency. Journal of Personality Assessment, 80(1), 99–103. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327752JPA8001_18
74.
TabachnickB. G.FidellL. S. (2007). Using multivariate statistics (5th ed.). Pearson.
75.
TajfelH. (1978). Interindividual and intergroup behaviour. In TajfelH. (Ed.) Differentiation between social groups: Studies in the social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 27–60). : Academic Press.
76.
TajfelH.TurnerJ.C. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In AustinW.G.WorchelS. (Eds.) The social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 33–47). Brooks/Cole.
77.
TalsmaK.SchüzB.SchwarzerR.NorrisK. (2018). I believe, therefore I achieve (and vice versa): A meta-analytic cross-lagged panel analysis of self-efficacy and academic performance. Learning and Individual Differences, 61, 136–150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2017.11.015
78.
TettehS.WuC.OpataC. N.Asirifua AgyapongG. N. Y.AmoakoR.Osei-KusiF. (2020). Perceived organisational support, job stress, and turnover intention: The moderation of affective commitments. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 30(1), 9–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/14330237.2020.1722365
79.
TimsM.BakkerA. B.DerksD. (2013). The impact of job crafting on job demands, job resources, and well-being. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 18(2), 230–240. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032141
80.
TubreT. C.CollinsJ. M. (2000). Jackson and Schuler (1985) revisited: A meta-analysis of the relationships between role ambiguity, role conflict, and job performance. Journal of Management, 26(1), 155–169. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920630002600104
81.
Van WingerdenJ.DerksD.BakkerA. B. (2017). The impact of personal resources and job crafting interventions on work engagement and performance. Human Resource Management, 56(1), 51–67. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21758
82.
WangG.OhI.-S.CourtrightS. H.ColbertA. E. (2011). Transformational leadership and performance across criteria and levels: A meta-analytic review of 25 years of research. Group & Organization Management, 36(2), 223–270. https://doi.org/10.1177/1059601111401017
83.
WhitakerB. G.DahlingJ. J.LevyP. (2007). The development of a feedback environment and role clarity model of job performance. Journal of Management, 33(4), 570–591. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206306297581
84.
XanthopoulouD.BakkerA. B.DemeroutiE.SchaufeliW. B. (2009). Reciprocal relationships between job resources, personal resources, and work engagement. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 74(3), 235–244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2008.11.003
85.
YoungH. R.GlerumD. R.WangW.JosephD. L. (2018). Who are the most engaged at work? A meta-analysis of personality and employee engagement. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 39(10), 1330–1346. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2303
86.
ZhangY. (2013). Leaders’ daily work demands, recovery, and leadership behaviors. Arizona State University.
87.
ZuoL.LowmanG. H.BachrachD. G.HouN.XiaoW. (2021). Less engaged over time? The effect of self‐efficacy on work engagement trajectory. Journal of Theoretical Social Psychology, 5(1), 249–261. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts5.90
88.
ZwingmannI.WolfS.RichterP. (2016). Every light has its shadow: A longitudinal study of transformational leadership and leaders’ emotional exhaustion. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 46(1), 19–33. https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12352
