Empowering leadership improves employees’ positive psychological states to result in more favorable behaviors

Based on workplace resources theories, especially conservation of resources theory, the present study examines if empowering leadership promotes subordinates’ innovative work behavior and reduces workplace bullying through two mediators, an energic state (thriving at work) and an attentional state (job boredom). U.S. employees answered questionnaires at three times one month apart. The hypothesized mediation model was supported more strongly than alternative models. Empowering leadership at Time 1 fostered subordinates’ thriving and alleviated their job boredom at Time 2. Greater thriving or less boredom resulted in more innovative work behavior and less bullying at Time 3. Together, the study shows the important roles of employees’ energic and attentional states in explaining why the job resources provided in empowering leadership may affect subordinates’ desirable and undesirable behaviors.