The Effect of Benevolent Leadership on Job Engagement through Psychological Safety and Workplace Friendship Prevalence in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry

Hazem Ahmed Khairy, Sijun Liu, Samar Sheikhelsouk, Ahmed M. EI-Sherbeeny, Omar Alsetoohy () and Bassam Samir Al-Romeedy
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Hazem Ahmed Khairy: Department of Hotel Management, Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, University of Sadat City, Sadat City 32897, Egypt
Sijun Liu: Department of Hotel, Resort, and Hospitality Management, Southern Utah University, Cedar City, UT 84720, USA
Samar Sheikhelsouk: Business Administration Department, Faculty of Commerce, Menofia University, Shebin Elkom 32512, Egypt
Ahmed M. EI-Sherbeeny: Department of Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, King Saud University, P.O. Box 800, Riyadh 11421, Saudi Arabia
Omar Alsetoohy: Department of Hotel Management, Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, University of Sadat City, Sadat City 32897, Egypt
Bassam Samir Al-Romeedy: Department of Tourism Studies, Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, University of Sadat City, Sadat City 32897, Egypt

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 17, 1-22

Abstract: This study examines how job engagement (JE) is affected by benevolent leadership (BL). This study also explores psychological safety (PS) and workplace friendship (WF) as mediators. Data were collected from employees working in Egypt’s five-star hotels and category (A) travel agencies. There were 320 valid responses that were analyzed using PLS-SEM. The findings demonstrated that there is a positive relationship between benevolent leadership and job engagement. There were positive relationships between benevolent leadership and PS/WF. The findings also revealed a positive relationship between PS/WF and job engagement. In addition, the findings revealed that psychological safety and workplace friendship mediate the relationship between BL and JE. This research contributes to the studies on BL, PS, and WF in terms of JE, specifically in the hospitality and tourism context. It also includes suggestions for enhancing the workplace environment in hotel and tourism enterprises via BL, PS, and WF.

Keywords: benevolent leadership; job engagement; psychological safety; workplace friendship; hospitality and tourism industry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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