Perceptions of transformational leadership and job satisfaction: The roles of personality traits and psychological empowerment

Abstract

Through two studies, this paper investigates the moderating effects of personality traits (i.e., extraversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness and neuroticism) and the mediating effect of psychological empowerment on the relationship between perceived transformational leadership and job satisfaction. Study 1 searches whether personality traits moderate the effects of perceived transformational leadership on followers' job satisfaction. Using a sample of 221 R&D employees employed by information technology organizations, the results of Study 1 indicate that the more conscientious the employee, the stronger the relationship between perceived transformational leadership and job satisfaction. Study 2 explores whether psychological empowerment mediates the effects of perceived transformational leadership on followers' job satisfaction. Based on data from 348 academics, the results support the mediating role of psychological empowerment on job satisfaction, in that when employees perceive their leader as transformational they feel more psychologically empowered, which in turn increases job satisfaction levels. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.Keywords: perceived transformational leadership, personality traits, psychological empowerment, job satisfaction Received 1 February 2016. Accepted 6 November 2016 T oday's dynamic work environment brought about by economic, technological and demographic changes affecting the magnitude of employee job satisfaction. It has been well documented that highly satisfied employees are more likely to be committed to their organization (Cooper-Hakim & Viswesvaran, 2005), have higher levels of job performance (Judge, Scott, & Ilies, 2006) and lower levels of turnover (Hulin & Judge, 2003). The accumulating evidence about the role of job satisfaction on various organizational outcomes triggered the studies investigating its predictors. Although job satisfaction was found to be affected by situational factors, it was also found to be shaped by individual * Faculty of Business Administration, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey ** Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Science, Hacettepe University, Ankara, TurkeyCorresponding author: caydogmus@bilkent.edu.tr § This manuscript is an original work that has not been submitted to nor published anywhere else. This study probes the underlying mechanism and the processes of how followers' perceptions of transformational leadership influence job satisfaction, with a focus on followers' personality traits and psychological empowerment with two different studies. With this aim, we provide follower-based perspective on leadership issues on management and organizations of benefit to scholars, Human Resource practitioners and managers.

The Impact of Transformational Leadership on Nurses’ Organizational Commitment: A Multiple Mediation Model

“…Therefore, it can be proposed that the transformational leadership style is a possible predictor of psychological empowerment. Past studies proclaim a significantly positive nexus between transformational leadership and psychological empowerment [47,56,57]. Therefore, we hypothesize that: Hypothesis 2 (H2).…”

“…The concept of employee empowerment has been extensively studied during the last two decades in different settings and contexts, such as information technology organizations and academics [47], social workers [48], banking managers [49], public welfare caseworkers [50], manufacturing firms [51], hotel staff [52] and nurses [11]. Spreitzer [53] defined psychological empowerment as "increased intrinsic task motivation manifested in a set of four cognitions reflecting an individual's orientation to his or her work role: competence, impact, meaning, and self-determination" (p. 1443).…”

Perceived organizational support and job satisfaction: a moderated mediation model of proactive personality and psychological empowerment

“…It is demonstrated that the employees who receive organizational support show more satisfaction toward their job and have lower turnover rate [49]. A recent study demonstrated that psychological empowerment works as an essential force that intervenes in the association between POS and job satisfaction [8]. Many researches on social exchange [2] and the norms of reciprocity [37] emphasize that employees feel obligated and are ready to assist their coworkers as well as their employers.…”

Influence of leadership style on job satisfaction of NGO employee: The mediating role of psychological empowerment

“…Psychologically empowered employee not only exerts efforts in workplace but also wish to stay in the organization. Numerous studies have reported consequence of empowerment; job satisfaction have been acknowledged often (Amundsen & Martinsen, 2015;Aydogmus et al, 2018;Humborstad & Perry, 2011). Efficiently implementing empowerment among employee depends on leadership, which results in enhancement of employee involvement in work and giving autonomy.…”

“…To survive and progress in such competitive environment, more than ever, these organizations want to keep their employees to be contented and satisfied. Many studies recommend the "perfect worker" is the one who is highly satisfied, who has the will to go an extra mile to help the organization achieve its goal (Aydogmus, Camgoz, Ergeneli, & Ekmekci, 2018). It has been well established that satisfied personnel are more likely to be committed to their organization (Humborstad & Perry, 2011), have higher level of job performance (Yang & Hwang, 2014), lower levels of turnover (Lu, Zhao, & While, 2019).…”