Servant leadership and healthy work relationships in university context: a moderated mediation analysis of psychological safety and socially responsible leadership

Organizations face challenges in fostering healthy work relationships among staff, which are crucial for organizational effectiveness and employee well-being. Despite the recognized importance of servant leadership and psychological safety in promoting healthy work environments, there is limited und...

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Main Authors: Mahadih Kyambade, Gideon Nkurunziza, Luke Sewante, Afulah Namatovu, Monica Tushabe
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2024-12-01
Series:Cogent Education
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/2331186X.2024.2418802
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author Mahadih Kyambade
Gideon Nkurunziza
Luke Sewante
Afulah Namatovu
Monica Tushabe
author_facet Mahadih Kyambade
Gideon Nkurunziza
Luke Sewante
Afulah Namatovu
Monica Tushabe
author_sort Mahadih Kyambade
collection DOAJ
description Organizations face challenges in fostering healthy work relationships among staff, which are crucial for organizational effectiveness and employee well-being. Despite the recognized importance of servant leadership and psychological safety in promoting healthy work environments, there is limited understanding of how these factors interact with socially responsible leadership to influence work relationships within the setting of Ugandan public universities. Therefore, our study investigates the relationship between servant leadership, healthy work relationships, psychological safety, and socially responsible leadership within public universities in Uganda. Drawing on a sample of 241 staff, a moderated mediation analysis was conducted to find out the indirect effect of servant leadership on healthy work relationships through psychological safety, moderated by socially responsible leadership. The results indicate a significant positive association between servant leadership and healthy work relationships. Furthermore, psychological safety was found to mediate this relationship, suggesting workers who believe there is more servant leadership experience greater psychological safety, leading to healthier work relationships. Additionally, socially responsible leadership was found to moderate the way servant leadership indirectly affects healthy work relationships via psychological safety. These findings underscore the prominence of fostering servant leadership qualities and promoting a supportive organizational climate characterized by psychological safety and ethical leadership practices.
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spelling doaj-art-bfd751e4d657410a9e2b3c714f1a0b8f2025-08-20T02:11:40ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Education2331-186X2024-12-0111110.1080/2331186X.2024.2418802Servant leadership and healthy work relationships in university context: a moderated mediation analysis of psychological safety and socially responsible leadershipMahadih Kyambade0Gideon Nkurunziza1Luke Sewante2Afulah Namatovu3Monica Tushabe4Department of Leadership and Governance, Makerere University Business School, Kampala, UgandaDepartment of Education, Makerere University Business School, Kampala, UgandaDepartment of Leadership and Governance, Makerere University Business School, Kampala, UgandaDepartment of Applied Computing & IT, Makerere University Business School, Kampala, UgandaDepartment of Leadership and Governance, Makerere University Business School, Kampala, UgandaOrganizations face challenges in fostering healthy work relationships among staff, which are crucial for organizational effectiveness and employee well-being. Despite the recognized importance of servant leadership and psychological safety in promoting healthy work environments, there is limited understanding of how these factors interact with socially responsible leadership to influence work relationships within the setting of Ugandan public universities. Therefore, our study investigates the relationship between servant leadership, healthy work relationships, psychological safety, and socially responsible leadership within public universities in Uganda. Drawing on a sample of 241 staff, a moderated mediation analysis was conducted to find out the indirect effect of servant leadership on healthy work relationships through psychological safety, moderated by socially responsible leadership. The results indicate a significant positive association between servant leadership and healthy work relationships. Furthermore, psychological safety was found to mediate this relationship, suggesting workers who believe there is more servant leadership experience greater psychological safety, leading to healthier work relationships. Additionally, socially responsible leadership was found to moderate the way servant leadership indirectly affects healthy work relationships via psychological safety. These findings underscore the prominence of fostering servant leadership qualities and promoting a supportive organizational climate characterized by psychological safety and ethical leadership practices.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/2331186X.2024.2418802Servant leadershiphealthy work relationshipssocially responsible leadershippsychological safetypublic universitiesUganda
spellingShingle Mahadih Kyambade
Gideon Nkurunziza
Luke Sewante
Afulah Namatovu
Monica Tushabe
Servant leadership and healthy work relationships in university context: a moderated mediation analysis of psychological safety and socially responsible leadership
Cogent Education
Servant leadership
healthy work relationships
socially responsible leadership
psychological safety
public universities
Uganda
title Servant leadership and healthy work relationships in university context: a moderated mediation analysis of psychological safety and socially responsible leadership
title_full Servant leadership and healthy work relationships in university context: a moderated mediation analysis of psychological safety and socially responsible leadership
title_fullStr Servant leadership and healthy work relationships in university context: a moderated mediation analysis of psychological safety and socially responsible leadership
title_full_unstemmed Servant leadership and healthy work relationships in university context: a moderated mediation analysis of psychological safety and socially responsible leadership
title_short Servant leadership and healthy work relationships in university context: a moderated mediation analysis of psychological safety and socially responsible leadership
title_sort servant leadership and healthy work relationships in university context a moderated mediation analysis of psychological safety and socially responsible leadership
topic Servant leadership
healthy work relationships
socially responsible leadership
psychological safety
public universities
Uganda
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/2331186X.2024.2418802
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