In this study, the authors analyze leadership behaviors as potential health-promoting
resources for low-skilled workers in a highly culturally diverse work setting. The authors
hypothesize that subordinates' and supervisors' individual power distance orientations
will moderate the effect of subordinates' perceptions of leadership behavior and the
subsequent effects on their well-being. Multilevel modeling is used to analyze a sample of
data from 474 low-skilled employees (50% immigrants) and 35 direct supervisors from three
German companies. Supporting the hypotheses, social support, task-related communication,
and positive feedback, as expressions of esteem, are found to positively impact
subordinates' well-being, but individual consideration shows no significant effects.
Furthermore, results confirm that supervisors' power distance orientation moderates
employees' perceptions about supervisors' positive feedback and the subsequent well-being
effects. The moderating effect fails to hold for employees' power distance orientation.
Results indicate that supervisors can most effectively promote the health of low-skilled
workers by showing esteem through positive feedback, but if the supervisor has high
individual power distance orientation, the effect is attenuated.
AntonovskyA.
(1987). Unraveling the mystery of health: How people manage stress
and stay well. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.
2.
AshfordS. J.CummingsL. L.
(1985). Proactive feedback seeking: The instrumental use of
the information environment. Journal of Occupational
Psychology, 58(1),
67–79.
3.
BakkerA. B.DemeroutiE.
(2007). The job demands-resources model: State of the
art. Journal of Managerial Psychology,
22(3),
309–328.
4.
BakkerA. B.DemeroutiE.EuwemaM. C.
(2005). Job resources buffer the impact of job demands on
burnout. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology,
10(2),
170–180.
5.
BakkerA. B.van VeldhovenM.XanthopoulouD.
(2010). Beyond the demand-control model.
Journal of Personnel Psychology, 9(1),
3–16.
6.
BatinicB.SelenkoE.StiglbauerB.PaulK. I.
(2010). Are workers in high-status jobs healthier than
others? Assessing Jahoda's latent benefits of employment in two working
populations. Work & Stress,
24(1),
73–87.
7.
BealD. J.DawsonJ. F.
(2007). On the use of likert-type scales in multilevel data
influence on aggregate variables. Organizational Research
Methods, 10(4),
657–672.
BochnerS.HeskethB.
(1994). Power distance, individualism/collectivism, and
job-related attitudes in a culturally diverse work group.
Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology,
25(2),
233–257.
10.
BorrellC.MuntanerC.BenachJ.ArtazcozL.
(2004). Social class and self-reported health status among
men and women: What is the role of work organisation, household material standards and
household labour?Social Science & Medicine, 58(10),
1869–1887.
11.
BrählerE.MühlanH.AlbaniC.SchmidtS.
(2007). Teststatistische Prüfung und Normierung der
deutschen Versionen des EUROHIS-QOL Lebensqualität-Index und des WHO-5
Wohlbefindens-Index. [Testing and standardization of the German version of the
EUROHIS-QOL and WHO-5 quality-of life-indices].
Diagnostica, 53(2),
83–96.
12.
BüssingA.PerrarK. M.
(1992). Die Messung von Burnout. Untersuchung einer
deutschen Fassung des Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI-D). [Measurement of burnout.
Investigation of a German version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory
(MBI-D]. Diagnostica,
38(4),
328–353.
13.
ChangS.TharenouP.
(2004). Competencies needed for managing a multicultural
workgroup. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources,
42(1),
57–74.
14.
ConnerleyM. L.PedersenP. B.
(2005). Leadership in a diverse and multicultural environment.
Developing awareness, knowledge, and skills.
London: Sage
Publications.
15.
CrawfordE. R.LePineJ. A.RichB. L.
(2010). Linking job demands and resources to employee
engagement and burnout: A theoretical extension and meta-analytic test.
Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(5),
834–848.
16.
DalgardO. S.ThapaS. B.HauffE.McCubbinM.SyedH. R.
(2006). Immigration, lack of control and psychological
distress: Findings from the Oslo Health Study. Scandinavian
Journal of Psychology, 47(6),
551–558.
17.
DekkerP.EsterP.
(1987). Working-class authoritarianism: A re-examination of
the Lipset thesis. European Journal of Political
Research, 15(4),
395–415.
18.
EarleyP. C.ErezM.
(1997). The transplanted executive: Why you need to understand how
workers in other countries see the world differently. New
York: Oxford University
Press.
19.
EarleyP. C.GibsonC. B.ChenC. C.
(1999). “How did I do?” versus “how did we do?” Cultural
contrasts of performance feedback use and self-efficacy. Journal
of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 30(5),
594–619.
20.
EarleyP. C.StubblebineP.
(1989). Intercultural assessment of performance
feedback. Group & Organization Management,
14(2),
161–181.
21.
EndersC. K.TofighiD.
(2007). Centering predictor variables in cross-sectional
multilevel models: A new look at an old issue. Psychological
Methods, 12(2),
121–38.
22.
EpitropakiO.MartinR.
(2005). From ideal to real: A longitudinal study of the role
of implicit leadership theories on leader-member exchanges and employee
outcomes. Journal of Applied Psychology,
90(4),
659–676.
FixB.SiasP. M.
(2006). Person-centered communication, leader-member
exchange, and employee job satisfaction. Communication Research
Reports, 23(1),
35–44.
25.
FreseM.
(1999). Social support as a moderator of the relationship
between work stressors and psychological dysfunctioning: A longitudinal study with
objective measures. Journal of Occupational Health
Psychology, 4(3),
179–192.
26.
GilbreathB.BensonP. G.
(2004). The contribution of supervisor behaviour to employee
psychological well-being. Work & Stress,
18(3),
255–266.
27.
GrebnerS.ElferingA.SemmerN. K.
(2010). The success resource model of job
stress. In PerrewéD. C.GangsterP. L.
(Ed.), New developments in theoretical and conceptual approaches to job
stress (pp. 61–108). Bingley,
UK: Emerald.
28.
HalesC.
(2005). Rooted in supervision, branching into management:
Continuity and change in the role of first-line manager. Journal
of Management Studies, 42(3),
471–506.
29.
HofstedeG.
(1980). Motivation, leadership, and organization: Do
American theories apply aproad?Organizational Dynamics, 9(1),
42–63.
30.
HofstedeG.
(2001). Culture's consequences: Comparing values, behaviors,
institutions, and organizations across nations. (S. Publications, Ed.),
Cultures consequences comparing values behaviors institutions and organizations
across nations (Vol. 2nd ed., p. 616).
Sage Publications.
31.
HofstedeG.HofstedeG. J.
(2005). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind
(2nd ed.). New York:
McGraw-Hill.
32.
HoppeA.
(2011). Psychosocial working conditions and well-being among
immigrant and German low-wage workers. Journal of Occupational
Health Psychology, 16(2),
187–201.
33.
HorvathP.WamboltP.
(2010). Moderation of success and failure feedback by
validation seeking on affect change: Implications for theories of cognitive adaptation
and self-worth regulation. Journal of Applied Biobehavioral
Research, 14(4),
145–164.
34.
HouseR. J.HangesP. J.JavidanM.DorfmanP. W.GuptaV.
(2004). Culture, leadership, and organizations - The GLOBE Study of
62 societies. London: Sage
Publications Ltd.
35.
JudgeT. A.PiccoloR. F.IliesR.
(2004). The forgotten ones? The validity of consideration
and initiating structure in leadership research. Journal of
Applied Psychology, 89(1),
36–51.
36.
KellowayE. K.WeigandH.McKeeM. C.DasH.
(2012). Positive leadership and employee
well-being. Journal of Leadership & Organizational
Studies, 20(1),
107–117.
37.
KernanM. C.WatsonS.ChenF. F.KimT. G.
(2011). How cultural values affect the impact of abusive
supervision on worker attitudes. Cross Cultural Management: An
International Journal, 18(4),
464–484.
38.
KerrS.JermierJ. M.
(1978). Substitutes for leadership: Their meaning and
measurement. Organizational Behavior and Human
Performance, 22(3),
375–403.
39.
KimH.LeeS. Y.
(2009). Supervisory communication, burnout, and turnover
intention among social workers in health care settings. Social
Work in Health Care, 48(4),
364–385.
40.
KuoppalaJ.LamminpääA.LiiraJ.VainioH.
(2008). Leadership, job well-being, and health effects: A
systematic review and a meta-analysis. Journal of Occupational
and Environmental Medicine, 50(8),
904–915.
41.
LawrenceJ. S.CrockerJ.BlantonH.
(2010). Stigmatized and dominant cultural groups
differentially interpret positive feedback. Journal of
Cross-Cultural Psychology, 42(1),
165–169.
42.
LewigK. A.DollardM. F.
(2003). Emotional dissonance, emotional exhaustion and job
satisfaction in call centre workers. European Journal of Work
and Organizational Psychology, 12(4),
366–392.
43.
LianH.FerrisD. L.BrownD. J.
(2012). Does power distance exacerbate or mitigate the
effects of abusive supervision? It depends on the outcome.
Journal of Applied Psychology, 97(1),
107–123.
44.
LinW.WangL.ChenS.
(2012). Abusive supervision and employee well-being: The
moderating effect of power distance orientation. Applied
Psychology: An International Review, 62(2),
308–329.
45.
LindbergP.VingårdE.
(2012). Indicators of healthy work environments: A
systematic review. Work: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment and
Rehabilitation, 41,
3032–3038.
46.
LipscombH. J.LoomisD.McDonaldM. A.ArgueR. A.WingS.
(2006). A conceptual model of work and health disparities in
the United States. International Journal of Health
Services, 36(1),
25–50.
47.
MarmotM. G.SmithD. V.StansfeldS.PatelC.NorthF.HeadJ.FeeneyA.
(1991). Health inequalities among British Civil Servants:
The Whitehall II Study. The Lancet,
337, 1387–1393.
48.
MilesE. W.PatrickS. L.KingW. C.
(1996). Job level as a systemic variable in predicting the
relationship between supervisory communication and job satisfaction.
Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology,
69, 277–293.
49.
MohrG.MüllerA.
(2005). Psychosomatic complaints in a non-clinical
context. In Glöckner-RistA.
(Ed.), ZUMA-information system. Digital handbook of measures in the social
sciences. (Vol. ZIS 8.00). Mannheim, Germany:
Zentrum für Umfragen, Methoden und
Analysen.
50.
NüblingM.StößelU.HasselhornH. M.MichaelisM.HofmannF.
(2005). Erfassung psychischer Belastungen - Erprobung eines
Messinstrumentes (COPSOQ). [Measuring psychological stress and strain at work:
Evaluation of the COPSOQ Questionnaire in Germany].
Schriftenreihe der Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin.
Bremerhaven: Wirtschaftsverlag
NW.
51.
NybergA.AlfredssonL.TheorellT.WesterlundH.VahteraJ.KivimäkiM.
(2009). Managerial leadership and ischaemic heart disease
among employees: The Swedish WOLF study. Occupational and
Environmental Medicine, 66(1),
51–55.
52.
OffermannL. R.HellmannP. S.
(1997). Culture's consequences for leadership behavior:
National values in action. Journal of Cross-Cultural
Psychology, 28(3),
342–351.
53.
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.
54.
PreacherK. J.DevereuxJ.SverkeM.
(2006). Computational tools for probing interaction effects
in multiple linear regression, multilevel modeling, and latent curve
analysis. Journal of Educational and Behavioral
Statistics, 31(4),
437–448.
55.
RydstedtL. W.DevereuxJ.SverkeM.
(2007). Comparing and combining the demand-control-support
model and the effort reward imbalance model to predict long-term mental
strain. European Journal of Work and Organizational
Psychology, 16(3),
261–278.
56.
SadriG.TranH.
(2002). Managing your diverse workforce through improved
communication. Journal of Management Development,
21(3),
227–237.
57.
SchaufeliW. B.BakkerA. B.
(2004). Job demands, job resources, and their relationship
with burnout and engagement: A multi-sample study. Journal of
Organizational Behavior, 25(3),
293–315.
58.
SchinkelS.van DierendonckD.van VianenA.RyanA. M.
(2011). Applicant reactions to rejection: Feedback,
fairness, and attributional style effects. Journal of Personnel
Psychology, 10(4),
146–156.
59.
SemmerN.
K. (2006). Job stress
interventions and the organization of work. Scandinavian Journal
of Work, Environment & Health, 32(6),
515–527.
60.
SinghM.SrivastavaU.
R. (2009). Leader-
member exchange and mental health: A study of middle level managers.
Indian Journal Social Science Researches,
6(1),
60–71.
61.
SnijdersT. A. B.BoskerR. J.
(2012). Multilevel analysis: An introduction to basic and advanced
multilevel modeling. (2nd ed.).
London: SAGE Publications
Ltd.
62.
SonnentagS.BinnewiesC.MojzaE. J.
(2010). Staying well and engaged when demands are high: The
role of psychological detachment. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 95(5),
965–976.
63.
SpectorP.
E. (2006). Method
variance in organizational research: Truth or urban legend?Organizational Research Methods, 9(2),
221–232.
64.
SteptoeA.MarmotM.
(2002). The role of psychobiological pathways in
socio-economic inequalities in cardiovascular disease risk.
European Heart Journal, 23(1),
13–25.
65.
TarasV.RowneyJ.SteelP.
(2012). Work-related acculturation: Change in individual
work-related cultural values following immigration. The
International Journal of Human Resource Management,
1–22.
66.
Van De VliertE.ShiK.SandersK.WangY.HuangX.
(2004). Chinese and Dutch interpretations of supervisory
feedback. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology,
35(4),
417–435.
67.
Van der DoefM.MaesS.
(1999). The job demand-control (-support) model and
psychological well-being: A review of 20 years of empirical research.
Work & Stress, 13(2),
87–114.
68.
Van DierendonckD.HaynesC.BorrillC.StrideC.
(2004). Leadership behavior and subordinate
well-being. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology,
9(2),
165–175.
69.
Van KnippenbergD.SchippersM. C.
(2007). Work group diversity. Annual
Review of Psychology, 58,
515–541.
70.
Van VegchelN.de JongeJ.BakkerA.SchaufeliW.
(2002). Testing global and specific indicators of rewards in
the effort-reward imbalance model: Does it make any difference?European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology,
11(4),
403–421.
71.
VincentS.
(2012). Analyseinstrument für gesundheits- und
entwicklungsförderliches Führungsverhalten: Eine Validierungsstudie.
Zeitschrift für Arbeitswissenschaft,
66(1),
38–57.
72.
WarrP.
(1994). A conceptual framework for the study of work and
mental health. Work & Stress,
8(2),
84–97.
73.
Weech-MaldonadoR.WeidmerB. O.MoralesL. O.HaysR. D.
(2001). Cross-cultural adaptation of survey instruments: The
CAHPS experience. In CynamonM. L.KulkaR. A.
(Eds.), Seventh conference on health survey research methods (pp.
75–81). Hyattsville,
Maryland: Department of Health and Human
Services.
74.
WilliamsK. Y.O'ReillyC. A.
(1998). Demography and diversity in organizations: A review
of 40 years of research. Research In Organizational
Behavior, 20,
77–140.
75.
WillisG.
(1994). Cognitive interviewing and questionnaire design: A training
manual. Washington, D.C.:
National Center for Health Statistics.
76.
WinklerE.BuschC.DuressoR.
(2013). Gesundheitsförderliches Führungsverhalten bei un-
und angelernten, kulturell diversen Belegschaften. [Health-promoting leadership behavior
in unskilled and semiskilled, culturally diverse workforces].
Gruppendynamik und Organisationsberatung,
44(2),
153–169.
