Affective and Cognitive Trust as Mediators in the Influence of Leader Motivating Language on Personal Initiative

Abstract

We investigated the mediating effects of affective and cognitive trust on the relationship between leaders’ use of motivating language and employees’ personal initiative. Hierarchical linear modeling was performed on nested data obtained from a sample of 238 participants from mainland China. The results showed that leaders’ motivating language positively influenced employees’ personal initiative at the team level and their affective and cognitive trust at the individual level. Additionally, both affective and cognitive trust significantly mediated the relationship between motivating language used by leaders and personal initiative demonstrated by employees. These findings point to the positive implications for an organization of a mechanism that fosters employees’ trust in their leaders through the translation of motivational language used by leaders into employees’ behavior demonstrating their personal initiative.

Fostering Employee Trust via Effective Supervisory Communication during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Through the Lens of Motivating Language Theory

“…The role of direction-giving language in reviving the foundation of employee trust becomes even more critical during organizational distress, as setting realistic expectations and providing clear direction can reduce ambiguity and uncertainty ( Mayfield & Mayfield, 2002 ). When employees obtain adequate information and clear feedback from leaders, a belief that their leader is reliable, competent, and honest arises ( Ling & Guo, 2020 ). Therefore, leaders who engage in open, directive, and clear communication may induce higher subordinate trust.…”

Contextualizing Motivating Language to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): How Leader Motivating Language Affects Employees’ CSR Engagement and Employee–Organization Relationships

“…The scale of three linguistic dimensions has been validated and operationalized in different countries, including the U.S., Mexico, and Mainland China [16,20,37]. As an effective antecedent in internal communication, MLT has shown positive effects on a variety of employee outcomes at an individual level, including job performance [22], employees' perceived leadership communication competence [38], organizational commitment and job satisfaction [37], employee decision making [39], and self-leadership [21], as well as negative effects on absenteeism [40] and intent-to-turn-over [41].…”

“…Previous internal communication and CSR research has focused on the impacts of leadership styles and communication models in promoting CSR with internal stakeholders [14,15], but the linguistic or rhetorical aspects have been largely overlooked. This gap is concerning because leaders' oral communication can powerfully affect employees' psychological and relational states, ultimately motivating their behaviors and relationship building with companies [16,17]. Leaders' languages also account for 70-80% of their managerial work [17], which is imperative to foster a supportive and motivating environment for employees to undertake initiatives for both jobs and non-job related organizational behaviors [16][17][18].…”

“…This gap is concerning because leaders' oral communication can powerfully affect employees' psychological and relational states, ultimately motivating their behaviors and relationship building with companies [16,17]. Leaders' languages also account for 70-80% of their managerial work [17], which is imperative to foster a supportive and motivating environment for employees to undertake initiatives for both jobs and non-job related organizational behaviors [16][17][18].…”

The effect of rural superintendent credibility on principal and district outcomes mediated by motivating language

“…It has been examined extensively in the USA as well as internationally in countries such as Mexico (Madlock, 2012;Madlock and Sexton, 2015), India (Madlock and Clubbs, 2019) and China (Wang et al, 2009). Researchers have examined the influence of ML on leader competence and effectiveness (Sharbrough et al, 2006), servant leadership (Guiterrez-Wirsching et al, 2015), trust (Ling and Guo, 2020), culture and organizational identification (Yue et al, 2021) and peer-to-peer effects (Hanke, 2020). Within the field of education, MLT has been examined within the USA and internationally in Kuwait (Alqahtani, 2015), Philippines (Buenviaje et al, 2017) and Pakistan (Sabir, 2018).…”