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RESEARCH PRODUCT
A Fair Share of Work: Is Fairness of Task Distribution a Mediator Between Transformational Leadership and Follower Emotional Exhaustion?
Tim Vahle-hinzThomas RigottiTorsten J. HolstadKathleen OttoTabea Scheelsubject
Fair shareLongitudinal studySocial resourcelcsh:BF1-990050105 experimental psychologyStructural equation modeling03 medical and health sciences0302 clinical medicineReverse causationfairness of task distributiontransformational leadershipPsychology0501 psychology and cognitive sciencesEmotional exhaustionGeneral Psychologyfollower well-beingEquity (economics)emotional exhaustion05 social sciencesBrief Research ReportGerman employeeslcsh:PsychologyTransformational leadershipPsychologySocial psychology030217 neurology & neurosurgerydescription
Drawing on social resource theory and the norm of equity, this research proposes fairness of task distribution as a mediating mechanism of the well-established relationship between transformational leadership and followers’ well-being, conceptualizing the latter as low emotional exhaustion. Using data from 479 German employees in a three-wave longitudinal study, we found transformational leadership to be related to fair task distribution over time. The perceived fairness of task distribution mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and follower emotional exhaustion (structural equation modeling) when excluding stabilities. Our results also show a reverse causation effect for emotional exhaustion and transformational leadership over a longer time period (within 20 months), suggesting a circular process, as well as a mediation by fairness of task distribution when excluding stabilities. The findings emphasize the importance of fair task distribution by leaders for followers’ well-being.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-11-29 | Frontiers in psychology |