Leader Exchange Ideology and Employee Trustworthiness as the Antecedents of Empowering Leadership: An Interactionist Perspective

리더의 교환 이데올로기와 구성원의 신뢰성이 임파워링 리더십에 미치는 영향: 상호작용주의적 관점을 중심으로

Although organizational scholars have paid considerable attention to the consequences of empowering leadership, only few studies have explored its predictors by asking what makes leaders engage in empowering leadership. As empowering leadership can be a risky behavior for leaders to undertake in their relationships with employees, it is critical to understand its antecedents in order to encourage leaders to engage in empowering leadership in organizations. Drawing on an interactionist perspective and social exchange theory, this study examines how leaders’ exchange ideology and their perception on employees’ trustworthiness directly and interactively affect empowering leadership. Using field data collected from 157 leader-employee dyads in Korea, our results showed the significant positive relationship between employee trustworthiness and empowering leadership. Also, we found the significant interactive effect of leader exchange ideology and employee trustworthiness on empowering leadership. This research contributes to empowering leadership literature by exploring two potential antecedents of it, including leader exchange ideology and employee trustworthiness. Particularly, we demonstrated the importance of employee trustworthiness in promoting empowering leadership, especially with leaders who have a weak exchange ideology. This implies the value of applying the interactionist perspective for a comprehensive understanding of what makes leaders engage in empowering leadership. Further theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.