THE IMPACT OF SERVANT LEADERSHIP ON SOCIAL LOAFING IN THE WORKPLACE: EXAMINING MECHANISMS AND BOUNDARY CONDITIONS.

Author

Brandon Antoine Griffin, Southern Illinois University CarbondaleFollow

Date of Award

5-1-2024

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Business Administration

First Advisor

Karau, Steven

Abstract

This dissertation explores the complex relationship between servant leadership and social loafing within organizational settings. Drawing upon the collective effort model, social exchange theory, and trait activation theory, this research explores how servant leadership impacts social loafing. Employing a two-wave online survey methodology with full-time workers in the USA, this study examines the direct effects of servant leadership on social loafing and investigates the mediating roles of perceived insider status, civility, and psychological empowerment. Furthermore, it assesses how individual differences—such as honesty-humility, psychological entitlement, and exchange ideology—moderate these relationships.Initial findings reveal a complex relationship between servant leadership and social loafing, with certain components of servant leadership directly influencing social loafing in both positive and negative directions. Specifically, emotional healing and ethical behavior factors of servant leadership were found to reduce social loafing, whereas putting subordinates first appears to unexpectedly increase social loafing. In addition, with the inclusion of social desirability, task interdependence, and task visibility as control variables, we see a marked decrease in the direct relationship between servant leadership and social loafing. Importantly, servant leadership does act as an indirect negative influence on social loafing through the mediating mechanisms of psychological empowerment, perceived insider status, and perceived leader civility. However, there were no detectable moderation effects from our interaction variables of psychological entitlement, honesty/humility, and exchange ideology. The research contributes to the broader literature on leadership and motivation by highlighting the conditional effects of servant leadership on individual motivation within groups, offering valuable insights for organizational leaders aiming to foster a culture of high engagement and minimal social loafing. Through a comprehensive analysis, this dissertation provides a deeper understanding of how servant leadership can be effectively leveraged to combat social loafing, emphasizing the importance of aligning leadership approaches with individual employee characteristics and group dynamics.