IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i16p8408-d611020.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Leading the Challenge: Leader Support Modifies the Effect of Role Ambiguity on Engagement and Extra-Role Behaviors in Public Employees

Author

Listed:
  • Ana Martínez-Díaz

    (IPTORA Research Team, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain)

  • Miguel A. Mañas-Rodríguez

    (IPTORA Research Team, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain)

  • Pedro A. Díaz-Fúnez

    (IPTORA Research Team, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain)

  • José M. Aguilar-Parra

    (Hum-878 Research Team, Health Research Centre, Department of Psychology, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain)

Abstract

The assumption of new challenges and services to provide, and the evolution of new technologies in public administration, give employees an important perception of ambiguity when carrying out their work. Role ambiguity has been conceptualized as one of the main impeding demands at work with negative consequences. The objective of the present study is to analyze the moderating effect of the support by the department head in the negative influence of the role ambiguity on the engagement and the extra-role performance behaviors of the employees. The hypothesis is proposed that the support of the department head will mean the transformation of role ambiguity into a challenging job demand with positive results. A total of 315 public employees with administrative staff have participated in this study. Results confirmed that the support of the leader moderates the effects of role ambiguity. The inclusion of this variable as a moderator transforms the influence of role ambiguity on the employees’ engagement into a positive one and reduces their negative effect on extra-role performance behaviors. These results reinforce the role of leader support as a protective element against job demands in public administrations. Theoretical and practical implications and future lines of research are discussed at the end of the work.

Suggested Citation

  • Ana Martínez-Díaz & Miguel A. Mañas-Rodríguez & Pedro A. Díaz-Fúnez & José M. Aguilar-Parra, 2021. "Leading the Challenge: Leader Support Modifies the Effect of Role Ambiguity on Engagement and Extra-Role Behaviors in Public Employees," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-14, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:16:p:8408-:d:611020
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/16/8408/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/16/8408/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Vicente Pecino & Miguel A. Mañas & Pedro A. Díaz-Fúnez & José M. Aguilar-Parra & David Padilla-Góngora & Remedios López-Liria, 2019. "Organisational Climate, Role Stress, and Public Employees’ Job Satisfaction," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-12, May.
    2. Wu, Chia-Huei & Parker, Sharon K., 2017. "The role of leader support in facilitating proactive work behaviour: a perspective from attachment theory," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 57311, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Jari J. Hakanen & Annina Ropponen & Hans De Witte & Wilmar B. Schaufeli, 2019. "Testing Demands and Resources as Determinants of Vitality among Different Employment Contract Groups. A Study in 30 European Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-17, December.
    4. Zhou, Qin & Martinez, Luis F. & Ferreira, Aristides I. & Rodrigues, Piedade, 2016. "Supervisor support, role ambiguity and productivity associated with presenteeism: A longitudinal study," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(9), pages 3380-3387.
    5. Marisa Salanova & Hedy Acosta-Antognoni & Susana Llorens & Pascale Le Blanc, 2021. "We Trust You! A Multilevel-Multireferent Model Based on Organizational Trust to Explain Performance," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-21, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rukuan Xue & Hyung Rok Woo, 2022. "Influences of Boundary-Spanning Leadership on Job Performance: A Moderated Mediating Role of Job Crafting and Positive Psychological Capital," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-13, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jean-Sébastien Boudrias & Francesco Montani & Christian Vandenberghe, 2021. "How and When Does Psychological Wellbeing Contribute to Proactive Performance? The Role of Social Resources and Job Characteristics," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-23, March.
    2. Talat Islam & Saima Ahmad & Ishfaq Ahmed, 2023. "Linking environment specific servant leadership with organizational environmental citizenship behavior: the roles of CSR and attachment anxiety," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 855-879, April.
    3. Escrig-Tena, Ana B. & Segarra-Ciprés, Mercedes & García-Juan, Beatriz & Beltrán-Martín, Inmaculada, 2018. "The impact of hard and soft quality management and proactive behaviour in determining innovation performance," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 1-14.
    4. Muhammad Umer Azeem & Inam Ul Haq & Ghulam Murtaza & Hina Jaffery, 2023. "Challenge–Hindrance Stressors, Helping Behavior and Job Performance: Double-Edged Sword of Religiousness," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 184(3), pages 687-699, May.
    5. Mung Khie Tsen & Manli Gu & Chee Meng Tan & See Kwong Goh, 2023. "Homeworking and Employee Job Stress and Work Engagement: A Multilevel Analysis from 34 European Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 168(1), pages 511-538, August.
    6. Piia Seppälä & Lotta Harju & Jari J. Hakanen, 2020. "Interactions of Approach and Avoidance Job Crafting and Work Engagement: A Comparison between Employees Affected and Not Affected by Organizational Changes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-20, December.
    7. Luu Trong Tuan, 2021. "Effects of environmentally-specific servant leadership on green performance via green climate and green crafting," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 38(3), pages 925-953, September.
    8. Yuanjie Bao & Chaoping Li, 2019. "From moral leadership to positive work behaviors: the mediating roles of value congruence and leader-member exchange," Frontiers of Business Research in China, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 1-18, December.
    9. Marta Roczniewska & Anne Richter & Henna Hasson & Ulrica von Thiele Schwarz, 2020. "Predicting Sustainable Employability in Swedish Healthcare: The Complexity of Social Job Resources," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-19, February.
    10. Mariola Laguna & Karolina Walachowska & Marjan J. Gorgievski-Duijvesteijn & Juan A. Moriano, 2019. "Authentic Leadership and Employees’ Innovative Behaviour: A Multilevel Investigation in Three Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-17, October.
    11. He, Jinbo & Chen, Xinjie & Fan, Xitao & Cai, Zhihui & Hao, Shudan, 2018. "Profiles of parent and peer attachments of adolescents and associations with psychological outcomes," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 163-172.
    12. Lixin Chen & Qingxiong Weng, 2023. "Authoritarian-Benevolent Leadership and Employee Behaviors: An Examination of the Role of LMX Ambivalence," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 186(2), pages 425-443, August.
    13. Susana Llorens & Marisa Salanova & María José Chambel & Pedro Torrente & Rui P. Ângelo, 2022. "Organizational Drivers of Burnout and Work Engagement: A Multilevel Study in Portuguese Firefighter Brigades," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-16, March.
    14. Singh, Sanjay Kumar & Tarba, Shlomo Y. & Wood, Geoffrey & Bozionelos, Nikos & Del Giudice, Manlio & Pereira, Vijay & Latan, Hengky, 2022. "Adjustment and work outcomes of self-initiated expatriates in the United Arab Emirates: Development and testing of a model," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 28(3).
    15. Rodolfo Mendoza-Llanos & Álvaro Acuña-Hormazábal & Olga Pons-Peregort, 2022. "We Need Engaged Workers! A Structural Equation Modeling Study from the Positive Organizational Psychology in Times of COVID-19 in Chile," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-13, June.
    16. Greta Mazzetti & Silvia Simbula & Chiara Panari & Dina Guglielmi & Alessio Paolucci, 2019. "“Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda”. Workers’ Proactivity in the Association between Emotional Demands and Mental Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-13, September.
    17. Luu, Tuan, 2019. "Relationship between benevolent leadership and the well-being among employees with disabilities," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 282-294.
    18. Sunwang Kim & Jimin Kwon & Dongil Jung, 2023. "Going beyond the firm perspective: what do employees think of high-performance work systems (HPWS)?," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(5), pages 2106-2134, November.
    19. Sanjay Kumar Singh & Shlomo Y. Tarba & Geoffrey Wood & Nikos Bozionelos & Manlio del Giudice & Vijay Pereira & Hengky Latan, 2022. "Adjustment and work outcomes of self-initiated expatriates in the United Arab Emirates," Post-Print hal-04325598, HAL.
    20. Alison Edgley, 2021. "Maternal presenteeism: Theorizing the importance for working mothers of “being there” for their children beyond infancy," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 1023-1039, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:16:p:8408-:d:611020. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.