Goal orientation and servant leadership: the mediating role of affect spin

초록

PurposeThis study examines the self-regulatory mechanisms underlying servant leadership. Grounded in the resource allocation perspective (Kanfer et al., 1994) and the cognitive appraisal theory of emotions (Lazarus, 1991), we propose that goal orientation influences servant leadership through its impact on affect spin, a measure of intraindividual affect variability.Design/methodology/approachThe study employs a matched-sample design involving 89 supervisors and 259 subordinates. Supervisors reported their goal orientation and daily affect states using the Day Reconstruction Method (Kahneman et al., 2004) over three non-consecutive days, while subordinates provided ratings of their supervisors' servant leadership.FindingsResults indicate that learning goal orientation (LGO) is positively associated with servant leadership. Furthermore, affect spin mediates this relationship, suggesting that leaders with higher LGO experience have lower affect spin, thereby conserving self-regulatory resources necessary to sustain servant behaviors. In contrast, both performance-prove and performance-avoid goal orientations exhibited only marginal or nonsignificant relationships with affect spin and servant leadership.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the servant leadership literature by shifting the focus from static individual characteristics to dynamic self-regulatory processes. In doing so, it provides a more nuanced understanding of how servant leadership emerges and is sustained over time.

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