Empowering leadership and followers' good and bad behaviors: A dual mediation model

Abstract Drawing from social exchange theory and conservation of resources theory, the present study examines the effects of empowering leadership on followers' innovative work behavior (IWB) and organizational deviance through two underlying psychological mechanisms: (a) by developing followers' trust in leader and (b) by lowering followers' emotional exhaustion. The model was tested using a sample of 343 full‐time Indian managerial employees who completed surveys at two time points separated by an approximate 2‐week interval. Results from structural equation modeling supported the hypothesized model, suggesting that empowering leadership elicited greater trust in the leader and lowered emotional exhaustion, both of which made followers engaged in more IWB and less organizational deviance. Together, these findings highlight the importance of both social exchange‐based and resource‐based underlying mechanisms explaining why empowering leadership promotes desirable and reduces undesirable work behaviors of followers. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.