How Paternalistic Leadership Affects Work Engagement? Mediator Role of Collective Gratitude

Abstract

Leadership is defined as influencing and directing a group to achieve a goal and has a key role to play in organizations, therefore, it is important to identify the type of leadership that could be effective in the organizations. Paternalistic leadership, which is one of the effective types of leadership, especially in collectivist cultures, has been bom with the thought that culture is important to increase the effectiveness of the leader. It is also important for organizational effectiveness to increase desirable situations such as work engagement and collective gratitude. The aim of this research, based on the leader-member exchange theory, social exchange theory, and well-being theory, is to identify the effect of employees’ paternalistic leadership perception on work engagement and the mediating effect of collective gratitude on this relationship. The sample consists of 418 service sector workers by using convenience sampling method. Findings show that paternalistic leadership is a statistically significant and positive predictor of work engagement and collective gratitude. In addition, collective gratitude is a statistically significant and positive predictor of work engagement. Finally, collective gratitude partial mediates the effects of paternalistic leadership on work engagement. Managerial and practical implications, as well as, further research directions are also provided.