Construct proliferation in the leadership field raises questions concerning parsimony and whether we should focus on joint mechanisms of leadership styles, rather than the differences between them. In this theoretical research article, we propose that positive leadership styles translate into similar leader behaviors on the work floor that influence employee work engagement through a number of shared pathways. We take a deductive approach and review several established theories as well as relevant up-to-date empirical work from a bird’s-eye view to generate a general framework. We introduce a model with three processes (one direct process and two indirect processes) and five pathways (practical, motivational, affective, cognitive, and behavioral). With regard to the indirect processes, we propose that work characteristics (material pathway) and psychological need satisfaction (intrapersonal motivational pathway) mediate the relationship between positive leadership styles and engagement. Regarding the direct interpersonal process, we propose that leaders directly influence employee engagement through three pathways: emotional contagion (affective interpersonal pathway), social exchange (cognitive interpersonal pathway), and role modeling (behavioral interpersonal pathway). Our parsimonious research model furthers the integration of different theoretical viewpoints as well as underscores joint mechanisms with regard to the effect of positive leadership styles. Practically speaking, this article also provides insight into which processes leaders can work on to stimulate employee work engagement through progressive policies and work practices.

Conflicts of interest: No conflicts of interest exist with regard to the presented workWhat's already known about this topic?• Distraction reduces pain but pain catastrophizing interferes with this effect• Mindfulness-based interventions are beneficial for the treatment of chronic pain but it is unclear if mindfulness can be induced to deal with acute pain• Mindfulness is believed to counteract catastrophic thinking about pain What does this study add?• A direct comparison of distraction and mindfulness inductions during experimental pain• Overall pain perception is not different under conditions of distraction and mindfulness• Mindfulness works better than distraction when pain catastrophizing is high, whereas the opposite is true when pain catastrophizing is low 2 Abstract Background

Aim The aim of this study was to study the simultaneous relationships of work pressure with the performance and well‐being of nurses and to explore whether mindfulness moderates these relationships. Design A cross‐sectional survey design. Method We conducted a cross‐sectional survey of 1,021 nurses from 103 Belgian care homes for older people, in 2017. Data were analysed using hierarchical multiple regression and simple slope analyses. Results Work pressure was positively associated with empathetic care, job performance and emotional exhaustion and negatively associated with work engagement. Mindfulness was positively related to empathetic care, job performance and work engagement and negatively related to emotional exhaustion. Regarding the moderations, mindfulness moderated the relationships between work pressure and both performance outcomes, as well as between work pressure and work engagement. Contrary to what we expected: (a) mindfulness showed no significant buffering effect of work pressure on emotional exhaustion; (b) the relationship between work pressure and both empathic care and job performance was stronger when mindfulness was low (vs. high); and (c) mindfulness strengthened instead of weakened the negative relationship between work pressure and work engagement. However, in high work pressure settings, more mindful individuals still had better job performance and work engagement outcomes than less mindful individuals. Conclusion Our findings explain conflicting outcomes on the effects of work pressure by suggesting that work pressure can function both as a hindrance and a challenge job demand depending on the outcome. Furthermore, by exploring the role of mindfulness as a personal resource, we add to the literature on the role of personal resources in the job demands–resources (JD‐R)‐model which is particularly relevant in the context of increasing work pressure. Impact Nurses are confronted with increasing work pressure. The present findings indicate that the implementation of mindfulness strategies can be beneficial for nurses dealing with work pressure, contributing to nursing practice and JD‐R theory.

The public sector requires job crafting from employees so that they can better cope with overdemanding jobs due to layer upon layer of public management reforms. Simultaneously, however, red tape and austerity constrain job autonomy. This study therefore tests how job crafting can be fostered in public organizations by studying social resources at work and, specifically, empowering leadership and social support. Multilevel analyses based on survey data from 1,059 nurses in 67 public elderly care organizations in Flanders, Belgium, show that empowering leadership and social support contribute to job crafting and, simultaneously, strengthen each other’s contribution. Additional analyses showed that empowering leadership, social support, as well as their interaction have differential relations vis-à-vis the different dimensions of job crafting. The implications for public management are discussed.

Transformational leadership is a popular and well-researched leadership style. Although much is understood about its positive consequences, less research has focused on antecedents of transformational leadership. In this research we draw upon self-determination theory and incorporate a self-regulatory approach to investigate if and how leader mindfulness influences transformational leadership. The analyses show that autonomy, competence and relatedness need satisfaction mediate between mindfulness and transformational leadership, indicating that mindfulness is associated with psychological need satisfaction. Furthermore, the data show that neuroticism moderates the relationship between mindfulness and relatedness need satisfaction. Generally speaking, the association between mindfulness and relatedness need satisfaction is positive. When neuroticism is also high, mindfulness has the largest impact. Or conversely, when emotional stability is high, mindfulness has the smallest association with relatedness need satisfaction. This is in line with evidence suggesting that mindfulness may primarily exert its influence through emotional self-regulation. Furthermore, the moderated mediation model for relatedness need satisfaction is significant, indicating that neuroticism is a boundary condition for the indirect effect of mindfulness on transformational leadership through relatedness need satisfaction.