Transformational Leadership and Employees’ Psychological Wellbeing: A Longitudinal Study

Lara Lindert (), Sabrina Zeike, Kyung-Eun (Anna) Choi and Holger Pfaff
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Lara Lindert: Institute of Medical Sociology, Health Services Research and Rehabilitation Science, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Cologne, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Cologne, Eupener Str. 129, 50933 Cologne, Germany
Sabrina Zeike: vivalue Health Consulting GmbH, Friesenplatz 4, 50672 Cologne, Germany
Kyung-Eun (Anna) Choi: Center for Health Services Research, Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane, Fehrbelliner Str. 38, 16816 Neuruppin, Germany
Holger Pfaff: Institute of Medical Sociology, Health Services Research and Rehabilitation Science, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Cologne, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Cologne, Eupener Str. 129, 50933 Cologne, Germany

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 20, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Managers play a key role in realizing a humane organization of work. Transformational leadership aims to identify and examine leadership behaviors that strengthen employees’ awareness of the importance and values of task outcomes by articulating a vision for the future, providing a realistic action plan, and giving individualized support. Previous studies have revealed associations between transformational leadership and the psychological wellbeing of employees in different settings, while others did not find such associations. As research based on longitudinal data remains rare, this study builds on longitudinal data from two employee surveys conducted in 2015 and 2018 in a medium-sized German company. In this study, transformational leadership t0 and gender had a significant impact on transformational leadership t1 , while psychological wellbeing ∆ , social capital ∆ , and age did not. Psychological wellbeing t0 and social capital ∆ had a significant impact on psychological wellbeing t1 , but transformational leadership ∆ , age, and gender did not. Therefore, it is worthwhile for companies to invest in social capital and focus on gender aspects at work. As underlying mechanisms regarding employees’ psychological wellbeing may differ between companies, it is worthwhile for each organization to conduct mental risk assessments to identify “red flags” and implement suitable measures.

Keywords: social capital; leadership research; mental health; mental risk assessment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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