Authentic leadership and proactive work behavior: Moderated mediation effects of conscientiousness and organizational commitment

Abstract

This study examines the mediating role of organizational commitment in the relationship between authentic leadership and proactive work behavior. The study also investigates the moderating role of conscientiousness in those relationships. Using anonymous questionnaire survey, the data was collected from a sample comprised of 375 persons working in a large public university in the north of Thailand. The SPSS Program with PROCESS macro (Model 4 and Model 8) was used to test the hypotheses regarding the mediation and the moderated mediation effects. The bootstrap result for indirect effect organizational commitment (β = .26, SE = .05) was significant, indicating that organizational commitment mediated the relationship between authentic leadership and proactive work behavior (PWB). Moreover, the conditional indirect effects of authentic leadership on PWB (through organizational commitment) were significant at the low levels (1 SD below the mean; β = .13), average levels (at the mean; β = .17), and high levels (1 SD above the mean; β = .21) of conscientiousness. Thus, the direct and indirect effects of authentic leadership (through organizational commitment) on PWB are particularly strong for high levels as compared with low levels of conscientiousness. The findings offer implications regarding how authentic leadership can enhance PWB through organizational commitment. © 2018, Behavioral Science Research Institute.