The Impact of Empowering Leadership on Employee Improvisation: Roles of Challenge-Hindrance Stress and Psychological Availability

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to explore the effect of empowering leadership on employee improvisation, including the mediating roles of challenge stress and hindrance stress as well as the moderating role of psychological availability. Methods: Four proposed hypotheses were tested using hierarchical regression analysis and the bootstrapping method by reference to two waves of data collected in 2021 from 248 employees working for organizations located in southern China. Results:The results showed that empowering leadership had a positive effect on employee improvisation, which was mediated by challenge stress and hindrance stress. That is, empowering leadership promoted challenge stress and decreased hindrance stress, thereby stimulating employee improvisation. Furthermore, psychological availability strengthened the positive effect of challenge stress on employee improvisation and weakened the negative effect of hindrance stress on employee improvisation. Psychological availability also moderated the indirect relationships among empowering leadership, challenge/hindrance stress and employee improvisation. Conclusion:In theoretical terms, this study identifies a new antecedent of employee improvisation: empowering leadership. This study also advances knowledge concerning the mechanism by which empowering leadership exerts its influence by drawing on cognitive transactional theory. Moreover, this study's exploration of the moderating role of psychological availability enriches the literature concerning the boundary conditions of the challenge-hindrance stress model. In practical terms, this study provides useful insights that can help organizations activate employee improvisation and manage employees' work pressure.

How perceived socially responsible HRM and job insecurity influence employee voice behavior: does psychological availability matter?

“…In conditions characterized by JI, heightened PA bolsters employees’ confidence in the effectiveness of their voice, subsequently enhancing their inclination to participate in vocal behaviors aimed at exerting influence and driving change. This aligns with the results of Ren et al. (2022), where PA amplified the positive influence of challenge tension on employee improvisation and mitigated the adverse effects of hindrance stressors on employee improvisation.…”

The Relationship of Psychological Capital to Psychological Empowerment Among Female Workers at Leadership Positions

“…It also showed that psychological capital and psychological empowerment are effective in reducing the levels of job burnout for teachers (Caglar & Yahya, 2018), and it has also found a significant effect of psychological capital on job creation, its dimensions, and job correlation among workers (Amin, 2019). Similarly, a study by Ren et al (2022) indicated that empowering leadership have a positive influence on employee improvisation, that mediated by challenge and hindrance stress. This refers to that empowering leadership advanced challenge stress and decreased hindrance stress of workers, thereby stimulating employee improvisation.…”

The Dark Side of Empowering Leadership: How Empowering Leadership Affects Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior in Construction Projects

“…High levels of role stress have some potential for employee mood fluctuations and changes in behavior patterns, thereby triggering unethical behavior. Furthermore, some studies have identified stress as a possible consequence of empowering leadership [34]. Therefore, by drawing on existing research, this study will explore the mediating mechanisms of role stress to explain the mechanism influencing empowering leadership and UPB.…”