The Effect of Servant Leadership on Work Resilience: Evidence from the Hospitality Industry during the COVID-19 Period

Zhenyao Cai, Yimin Mao, Ting Gong, Ying Xin () and Jiayun Lou
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Zhenyao Cai: SILC Business School, Shanghai University, 20 Chengzhong Road, Shanghai 201800, China
Yimin Mao: SILC Business School, Shanghai University, 20 Chengzhong Road, Shanghai 201800, China
Ting Gong: SILC Business School, Shanghai University, 20 Chengzhong Road, Shanghai 201800, China
Ying Xin: SILC Business School, Shanghai University, 20 Chengzhong Road, Shanghai 201800, China
Jiayun Lou: SILC Business School, Shanghai University, 20 Chengzhong Road, Shanghai 201800, China

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 2, 1-14

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic is a tremendous crisis for public health, which also has a profound impact on business and social activities because many countries restrict travel and social gatherings to avoid the spread of COVID-19. Workers suffer from mental health problems including depression and anxiety due to the uncertain work environment. Hence, psychological resilience, a positive psychological response to these challenges, is essential to the success of employees and companies. Drawing on the conservation of resources theory (COR), this paper investigates how the leadership style (i.e., servant leadership) enhances the work resilience of hospitality employees through two time-lagged empirical studies. Specifically, study 1 demonstrates a positive relationship between servant leadership and employees’ work resilience. Study 2 replicates study 1’s result and further demonstrates that emotional exhaustion mediates the relationship between servant leadership and employees’ work resilience. Furthermore, study 2 finds a significant moderating effect of job complexity. The findings of this paper provide empirical evidence for practitioners to manage employees’ resilience and psychological resources.

Keywords: servant leadership; emotional exhaustion; state resilience; work complexity; conservation of resources theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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