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Chinese Traditionality Matters: Effects of Differentiated Empowering Leadership on Followers’ Trust in Leaders and Work Outcomes

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Abstract

From the perspective of the integrative model of organizational trust, this study proposes a multi-level model for whether, how, and when differentiated empowering leadership influences followers’ trust in leaders and their work outcomes. Drawing on a sample of 372 followers from 97 teams in China, it was found that the negative effect of differentiated empowering leadership on followers’ trust in leaders became salient when followers’ Chinese traditionality was low. Moreover, followers’ trust in leaders mediated the effect of differentiated empowering leadership and Chinese traditionality on followers’ in-role performance, extra-role performance, and counterproductive work behaviors toward the organization. These findings have implications for managerial theory and practice in the domains of trust and differentiated empowering leadership.

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Acknowledgments

This paper was supported by the grants from the National Science Foundation of China (71232001 & 71402061) and Hong Kong Baptist University (FRG2/13-14/042).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Economics and Management School, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, People’s Republic of China

    Shao-Long Li

  2. Department of Management, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China

    Yuanyuan Huo

  3. School of Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, People’s Republic of China

    Li-Rong Long

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Li, SL., Huo, Y. & Long, LR. Chinese Traditionality Matters: Effects of Differentiated Empowering Leadership on Followers’ Trust in Leaders and Work Outcomes. J Bus Ethics 145, 81–93 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2900-1

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