Linkages Between Transformational Leadership, Work Meaningfulness and Work Engagement: A Multilevel Cross-Sectional Study

Figures & data

Figure 1 Proposed model of mediation and moderation.

Notes: For the analysis of the mediating effect, the path from leadership to engagement is labeled c. The path from leadership to meaningfulness in work is labeled a₁. The path from meaningfulness in work to engagement is labeled b₁. The path from leadership to engagement via meaningfulness in work is labeled c₁′. The path from leadership to meaningfulness at work is a₂. The path from meaningfulness at work to engagement is labeled b₂. The path from leadership to engagement via meaningfulness at work is labeled c₂′.

Table 1 Means, Standard Deviations and Correlations

	M	SD	MIW	MAW	ENG	TL
MIW	3.788	0.724	(0.739)
MAW	4.044	0.676	0.322**	(0.787)
ENG	3.814	0.691	0.388**	0.424**	(0.719)
TFL	3.552	0.723	0.474**	0.349**	0.415**	(0.862)

Notes: Internal consistency reliabilities are reported in parentheses along the diagonal. **p < 0.01.

Abbreviations: MIW, meaningfulness in work; MAW, meaningfulness at work; ENG, work engagement; TFL, transformational leadership.

Table 2 Sample Distribution

	Category	Frequency	Percent (%)
Sex	Male	254	97.3
	Female	7	2.7
Age	20–30	8	3.1
	30–40	93	35.6
	40–50	113	43.3
	≥ 50 years	47	18.0
Length of service	1–5	20	7.7
	6–10	43	16.5
	11–20	81	31.0
	21–30	90	34.5
	≥ 30 years	27	10.3
Total		261	100

Table 3 Percentage of Within-Individual Variance and ICC of the Dependent Variables

	Within-Individual Variance	Between-Individual Variance	Percentage of Within-Individual Variance	ICC
Meaningfulness in work	0.489	0.032	93.9%	0.061
Meaningfulness at work	0.379	0.077	83.1%	0.169
Work engagement	0.405	0.072	84.9%	0.151

Table 4 Composite Reliability, Convergent Validity and Discriminant Validity

	CR	AVE	1	2	3	4
1 Transformational leadership	0.865	0.479	0.692
2 Meaningfulness in work	0.741	0.420	0.587	0.648
3 Meaningfulness at work	0.789	0.484	0.400	0.437	0.696
4 Work engagement	0.723	0.466	0.514	0.536	0.542	0.683

Note: The diagonal values are the square root of average variance extracted (AVE).

Table 5 Results of the Mediating Analysis

	MIW		MAW		ENG
	B	SE	B	SE	B	SE
Sex	0.156	0.206	−0.194	0.296	0.209	0.176
Age	−0.018	0.106	−0.121	0.066	−0.109	0.073
LOS	−0.033	0.076	0.031	0.047	0.017	0.055
TFL	0.757**(a1)	0.092	0.576**(a2)	0.159	0.86**(c)	0.118
MIW					0.206**(b1)	0.068
MAW					0.278**(b2)	0.073
TL→MIW→ENG					0.156**(c1′)	0.055
TL→MAW→ENG					0.16** (c2′)	0.058

Note: **p < 0.01.

Abbreviations: LOS, length of service; MIW, meaningfulness in work; MAW, meaningfulness at work; ENG, work engagement; TFL, transformational leadership.

Table 6 Results of the Moderating Analysis

	ENG
	B	SE
Sex	0.284	0.149
Age	−0.105	0.067
LOS	0.016	0.053
TL	0.537**	0.113
Effect of TFL on the relationship between MIW and ENG	−0.181	0.16
Effect of TFL on the relationship between MAW and ENG	0.4*	0.176

Note: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01.

Abbreviations: LOS, length of service; MIW, meaningfulness in work; MAW, meaningfulness at work; ENG, work engagement; TFL, transformational leadership.

Figure 2 Adjusted effect of transformational leadership on the relationship between meaningfulness at work and work engagement.