Related Experiment Videos
When inclusive leadership meets supervisory interaction pressure: explaining innovative behavior among public
Xiaoting Zhong1,2, Guoxian Bao1,2,3
1School of Management, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China.
Introduction:
Public organizations increasingly depend on employees to identify service failures and implement improvements, yet immediate supervisors combine developmental support with evaluative authority. Drawing on job demands-resources theory and integrating psychological contract and public service motivation research, this study examines how inclusive leadership is associated with innovative behavior and when supervisory interaction pressure constrains this relationship.
Methods:
Cross-sectional survey data were collected from 4,511 tax civil servants across a provincial tax administration system in China and analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and moderated sequential mediation analyses.
Results:
Inclusive leadership was positively associated with innovative behavior directly, and the observed indirect association was consistent with the proposed ordering of psychological contract and public service motivation. Supervisory interaction pressure weakened the positive relationships between inclusive leadership and both psychological contract and innovative behavior. However, the moderated mediation tests did not provide sufficient statistical evidence that supervisory interaction pressure significantly weakened the indirect or ordered sequential indirect relationships. Inclusive leadership nevertheless remained positively associated with both outcomes at higher levels of supervisory interaction pressure, indicating that interaction pressure constrained rather than eliminated its benefits.
Discussion:
The study contributes to public personnel management research by showing how the relational conditions surrounding supervisory interaction shape the use and interpretation of inclusive leadership as a job resource. It further explains how supportive supervisory conduct is associated with perceived reciprocity, public service motivation, and innovative behavior.
Related Concept Videos
Impact of Individuals on a Group
Obedience
Social Loafing
Levels of Communication II: Organizational, Public, and Group Dynamics
Impact of Individuals on Individuals
Groupthink