Authentic Leadership, Trust, and Social Exchange Relationships under the Influence of Leader Behavior

Abstract

During the pandemic, government policies such as social distancing and telework have impacted trust and working or social exchange relationships in the workplace. The behavior of leaders is critical for good leadership, employees’ trust, and social exchange relationships. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to assess the associations among authentic leadership, trust, and social exchange relationships under the influence of leader behavior. A regression-based approach was used to test the moderating and mediating effects. The results show that authentic leadership positively impacts trust and social exchange relationships, whereas trust directly affects social exchange relationships. During COVID-19, leader behaviors with ability, ethics, and positive relationships have had a positive impact on the association between authentic leadership, trust, and social exchange relationships. Additionally, trust positively mediates authentic leadership and social exchange relationships. The findings of this paper suggest that authentic leadership promotes trust and high-quality social exchange relationships. Moreover, based on leader behaviors during COVID-19, the ability to manage change effectively, boost employees’ work motivation, provide support, and take appropriate action is essential for authentic leadership to increase trust and foster a positive working relationship based on social exchange. Finally, regarding social exchange theory, high-quality leader behaviors and the leader–follower relationships drive positive associations among variables. These results will help organizational management teams to find methods to improve their organizational working relationships. The implication is that the abilities, ethics, and supportive and positive relationship behaviors of leaders are essential for effective management to improve leadership, trust, and social exchange relationships. Leaders should have the ability to manage work and people, even with teleworkers. Therefore, leader behaviors are important to maintain organizational sustainability. Further discussion on theoretical and practical implications is provided in the section.

Authentic Leadership for Organisational Advancement in the New Normal

“…Furthermore, authentic leadership and social exchange relationships were positively mediated by trust. The results of the study demonstrate that authentic leadership enhances high-quality social exchange relationships and trust (Chen & Sriphon, 2022). Authentic leaders achieve this by managing change effectively, taking appropriate action, increasing employee work motivation, and by providing support to their followers.…”

“…The moderating and mediating effects were examined via a regression-based approach (Chen & Sriphon, 2022). The findings suggest that authentic leadership has a positive effect on trust and social exchange relationships, and that trust is directly linked to social exchange relationships.…”

“…Scholars have recognized that authentic leadership is one of the core approaches for managing organisations in critical periods such as the COVID-19 pandemic and for securing business resilience in the times that follow. Therefore, several studies examined the impact that authentic leadership has on various organisational outcomes across cultures, industries and organisation types including the public sector in Indonesia (Daraba et al, 2021), aviation sector in Vietnam (Thuy & Van, 2022), hospitality industry in China (Du et al, 2021), and small and medium-sized businesses in Thailand (Chen & Sriphon, 2022). This section provides an outline of these studies to highlight the significance and impact of authentic leadership in organisations.…”

“…Thailand's small and medium-sized businesses have also faced difficulties related to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the health crisis, economic challenges included interruptions in supply chain which resulted in diminished revenues (Chen & Sriphon, 2022). Interpersonal dynamics in the workplace have also been affected due to job uncertainty, social distancing and working from home.…”

“…This paper briefly outlines authentic leadership theory and provides an overview of the recently published articles concerning the effects of authentic leadership on various outcomes during the pandemic. Specifically, the studies cover hospitality industry in China (Du, Ma, Lin, & Wang, 2021), public sector in Indonesia (Daraba, Wirawan, Salam, & Faisal, 2021), small and medium-sized businesses in Thailand (Chen & Sriphon, 2022) and aviation sector in Vietnam (Thuy & Van, 2022). Even though positive effects of authentic leadership were known prior to the pandemic, this approach becomes particularly relevant for organisations in the new normal.…”