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.

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