The dual-level effects of authentic leadership on teacher wellbeing: the mediating role of psychological availability

Abstract

PurposeDrawing on the conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study examined the mediating role of psychological availability in the relationships between principals' individual-level and group-level authentic leadership and individual teachers' wellbeing, that is, job satisfaction, life satisfaction and emotional exhaustion.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a three-wave online questionnaire survey among 266 teachers from 52 schools in China. Multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM) was used to analyze the hypothesized relationships among the study variables.FindingsThe principals' group-level and individual-level authentic leadership were both positively associated with individual teachers' psychological availability, which in turn was positively related to their job satisfaction and life satisfaction, and negatively related to their emotional exhaustion.Practical implicationsSchool administrations should elevate the levels of principals' authentic leadership by selecting and developing authentic principals to increase teacher wellbeing.Originality/valueDiffering from prior research that has focused on the effect of authentic leadership at either group-level or individual-level, this study simultaneously investigated the dual-level effects of principals' authentic leadership. Moreover, psychological availability was found to mediate the dual-level effects of principals' authentic leadership on teachers' job satisfaction, life satisfaction and emotional exhaustion.

Multifaceted leaders: the double-edged sword effect of narcissistic leadership on employees’ work behavior

“…Secondly, narcissistic leaders are more aggressive, passionate, and possess a strong work ethic ( Schyns et al, 2023 ), which can enhance employees’ perceived job stability and security, satisfies their basic needs to complete tasks, avoids resource depletion due to work environment stress and uncertainty, and greatly improves the perceived availability of physiological resources ( Xu and Yang, 2023 ). In addition, narcissistic leaders have an ambitious vision and dare to innovate, which can motivate employees to continuously learn new skills, explore new knowledge, and improve their problem-solving skills, greatly improving the perceived availability of cognitive resources.…”

“…Conversely, low environmental uncertainty reduces employees’ susceptibility to narcissistic leadership behaviors, thereby weakening the effect of narcissistic leadership on employee hostility, and less hostile employees exhibit less counterproductive behaviors. It also reduces the facilitative effect of narcissistic leadership on their psychological availability ( Xu and Yang, 2023 ) and reduces the frequency of employees’ organizational citizenship behaviors. Therefore, the following hypotheses are proposed.…”

Unravelling the wellbeing needs of Australian teachers: a qualitative inquiry

“…On a societal level, wellbeing involves the presence of supportive relationships, trust, and a sense of belonging (Day & Gu, 2014). Additionally, there is an expectation that leaders know how to manage their own wellbeing (White & Kern, 2018), however, often revealing that this is an issue in itself, with presumptions made on awareness across the duality of authentic leadership at either group level or individual level (Xu & Yang, 2023).…”