The Forgotten Side of Empowering Others: How Lower Social Structural Empowerment Attenuates the Effects of Empowering Leadership on Employee Psychological Empowerment and Performance

Theory and research have widely argued for and documented positive impacts of empowering leadership on employee psychological empowerment, putting empowering leadership on a pedestal depicting it as a panacea for increasing psychological empowerment. However, we argue that this could be due to not considering social structural empowerment (i.e., a construct manifested in employees' beliefs about their access to resources, access to information, and sociopolitical support) as a so far forgotten side of empowerment. Using empowerment theory, we depart from this consensus to focus on the moderating role that social structural empowerment can have on the empowering leadership-psychological empowerment relationship. We propose that empowering leadership and social structural empowerment interact to affect employee psychological empowerment, such that lower (vs. higher) social structural empowerment can unintentionally attenuate the positive effects of empowering leadership on psychological empowerment and, ultimately, job performance. Across four studies using unique methods, findings supported our predictions that lower (vs. higher) social structural empowerment can stifle positive effects of empowering leadership on employee psychological empowerment and performance. We highlight the impact that social structural empowerment can have on the empowering leadership-psychological empowerment relationship, providing answers as to why this forgotten side of empowerment should matter to scholars and practitioners.

Automated summary

This paper explores the positive impact of leadership on employee psychological empowerment, while emphasizing the moderating role of social structural empowerment. Findings from four studies suggest that lower social structural empowerment may attenuate the positive effects of empowering leadership on psychological empowerment and job performance. The study highlights the importance of considering social structural empowerment in the leadership-psychological empowerment relationship for scholars and practitioners.