Leader Behavior as a Determinant of Health at Work: Specification and Evidence of Five Key Pathways

Abstract

The extent to which leadership influences employee health and the processes that underlie its effects are not well understood at present. With the aim of filling this gap, we review four distinct forms of leader behavior (task-oriented, relationship-oriented, change-oriented, and passive/destructive) and clarify the different ways in which these can be expected to have a bearing on employee health. Next, we present a model that integrates and extends these insights. This model describes five pathways through which leader behavior can influence the health of organizational members and summarizes what we know about the most important determinants, processes (mediators) and moderators of these relationships. These involve leaders engaging in personfocused action, system-or team-focused action, action to moderate the impact of contextual factors, climate control and identity management, and modelling. Finally, we identify important gaps and opportunities in the literature that need to be addressed in future research. A key conclusion is that while much has been done to explore some key pathways between leadership and health, others remain underexplored. We also outline how future research might address these in the context of a more expansive theoretical, empirical and practical approach to this emerging field of research.

Developing Sustainable Workplaces with Leadership: Feedback about Organizational Working Conditions to Support Leaders in Health-Promoting Behavior

“…This view is also shared by Wegge, Shemla and Haslam [16] who concluded that the relationship between leadership and employee health is not restricted to the personal interaction between leader and employee. They identified four other pathways that can explain the complex relationship between leadership and employee health: system-focused action (e.g., leaders promote healthy work designs), moderating action (e.g., leaders alleviate the impact of stressors at the workplace), climate control (e.g., leaders cultivate a shared perception of health in the team), and modelling (e.g., the leader acts as a role model for health and exemplifies particular health behavior).…”

Why do employees follow their superiors’ instructions? Identification of the reasons to comply with superiors’ will in a group of Polish employees

“…Thus, the manager may directly influence employees' health -high work burden leads directly to health impairment or results in employees' stress-again, health-exacerbating [8]. On the other hand, a manager may become a model of health-promoting behavior giving example of his or her own strategies or just attitude to health protection [8].…”

“…Thus, the manager may directly influence employees' health -high work burden leads directly to health impairment or results in employees' stress-again, health-exacerbating [8]. On the other hand, a manager may become a model of health-promoting behavior giving example of his or her own strategies or just attitude to health protection [8]. The research revealed that superior-subordinate exchange [9] understood as a unique relationship that a manager has with each of subordinates, influences employees' health and well-being to a greatest extent, as compared to other acknowledged leadership behavior.…”

“…Another research revealed that employees who assessed their superiors' style of leadership as poor as regards their attitude towards changes or considering the superiorsubordinate relationship reported higher levels of musculoskeletal pain [7]. Wegge et al [8] identified 3 levels, on which relationships between superiors' style of leading and subordinates' health could be expressed. 1.…”

“…and thus, makes the working conditions favorable or not as regards employees' health. Managers may also support their employees in preserving health or even enhance their resources e.g., through support they give to them [8].…”