Let's Say Thanks: How Motivating Language Increases Engagement and Empowerment Through Follower Gratitude

This study examines whether a leader's motivating language use cultivates individual follower gratitude and ultimately, work engagement and empowerment in both the USA and India. It also seeks to discover if the proposed model shows significant differences between the two national contexts. We examined our model by distributing questionnaires to a wide range of full-time employees using MTurk. Results reveal that in both countries motivating language has positive relationships with an employee's state-based gratitude, engagement, and psychological empowerment. As predicted, gratitude partially mediates the relationships between ML and the two outcomes. However, the strengths of these relationships differ between both samples.

Automated summary

This study investigates the impact of leader's motivating language on employee gratitude, work engagement, and empowerment, and compares the differences between the USA and India. By distributing questionnaires to a diverse group of full-time employees using MTurk, the results demonstrate positive relationships between motivating language and employee gratitude, work engagement, and psychological empowerment in both countries. Gratitude partially mediates the relationships between motivating language and the two outcomes, but the strengths of these relationships differ between the two samples.