The Impact of Empowering Leadership on Employee Improvisation: Roles of Challenge-Hindrance Stress and Psychological Availability

Figures & data

Figure 1 Theoretical model.

Note: The solid line represents positive relationship and the dotted line represents negative relationship.

Table 1 Confirmatory Factor Analysis

Models	Factors	χ^2	df	Δχ^2(Δdf)	CFI	TLI	RMSEA
1	EL;CS;HS;PA;EI	895.21	614		0.91	0.90	0.04
2	EL;CS+HS;PA;EL	1405.58	619	510.37(5)	0.74	0.72	0.07
3	EL;CS+HS;PA+EI	1638.60	622	743.39(8)	0.66	0.64	0.08
4	EL, CS+HS+PA+EI	1912.88	624	1017.67(10)	0.57	0.54	0.09
5	EL+CS+HS+PA+EI	2381.04	629	1485.83(15)	0.41	0.38	0.11

Notes: N=248.

Abbreviations: EL, empowering leadership; CS, challenge stress; HS, hindrance; PA, psychological availability; EI, employee improvisation.

Table 2 Descriptive Statistical Results

Variables	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
1.Gender	1
2.Age	−0.01	1
3.Education	−0.03	0.05	1
4.Position	0.13*	0.23**	0.07	1
5.Tenure	0.03	0.69**	0.03	0.29**	1
6. EL	0.08	0.120**	−0.07	0.07	0.21**	1
7.CS	−0.03	0.16*	−0.03	0.10	0.16*	0.22**	1
8.HS	0.10	0.01	0.01	−0.03	−0.18**	−0.16*	0.24**	1
9.PA	0.01	0.03	−0.01	−0.07	0.03	0.08	0.15*	−0.03	1
10.EI	0.04	0.31**	−0.07	0.20**	0.42**	0.39**	0.36**	−0.28**	0.12	1
Mean	0.51	29.18	3.94	1.83	2.68	3.60	3.58	2.30	3.65	3.92
SD	0.50	6.11	0.55	0.94	1.04	0.58	0.69	0.71	0.55	0.63

Notes: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01. Gender: 1 = male, 0 = female. Education: 1 = junior high school or lower, 2 = high school or secondary vocational school. 3 = 3-year college, 4 = university, 5 = graduate school. Position: 1 = non-managerial employee, 2 = first-level manager, 3 = middle-level manage, 4 = high-level manager. Tenure: 1 = 1 year or lower, 2 = 1–3 years, 3 = 4–6 years, 4 = 7–10 years, 5 = more than 10 years.

Abbreviations: EL, empowering leadership; CS, challenge stress; HS, hindrance; PA, psychological availability; EI, employee improvisation.

Table 3 Regression Results for Mediating Effects

	Challenge Stress		Hindrance Stress		Employee Improvisation
	Model 1	Model 2	Model 3	Model 4	Model 5	Model 6	Model 7	Model 8	Model 9
Control variables
Gender	−0.09	−0.12	0.23	0.25*	0.02	−0.02	0.01	0.02	0.09
Age	0.01	0.01	0.04**	0.05***	0.01	0.01	−0.01	0.01	0.01
Education	−0.09	−0.06	0.03	0.01	−0.17	−0.12	−0.11	−0.12	−0.10
Position	0.07	0.07	−0.01	−0.01	0.09	0.09	0.07	0.09	0.07
Tenure	0.09	0.06	−0.35***	−0.33***	0.35***	0.31***	0.30***	0.25***	0.20**
Independent variable
EL		0.19**		−0.15*		0.31***	0.26***	0.28***	0.20***
Mediator
CS							0.24***		0.33***
HS								−0.18***	−0.29***
R^2	0.04	0.07	0.08	0.10	0.19	0.28	0.34	0.31	0.40
F	1.869	3.02**	4.26***	4.62***	11.43***	11.53***	17.30***	15.44***	20.20***

Notes: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

Abbreviations: EL, empowering leadership; CS, challenge stress; HS, hindrance.

Table 4 Bootstrapping Results for Mediation Effect

Path	Effect	SE	LLCI	ULCI
EL→CS→EI	0.06	0.02	0.02	0.11
EL→HS→EI	0.04	0.02	0.01	0.08

Abbreviations: EL, Empowering leadership; CS, Challenge stress; HS, Hindrance stress; EI, Employee improvisation.

Table 5 Regression Results for Moderating Effects

	Employee Improvisation
	Model 1	Model 2	Model 3	Model 4
Control variable
Gender	0.05	0.02	0.07	0.02
Age	0.01	0.00	0.02	0.01
Education	−0.14	−0.14	−0.16	−0.16
Position	0.08	0.07	0.10	0.10
Tenure	0.32***	0.31***	0.27***	0.30***
Mediating variable
CS	0.28***	0.29***
HS			−0.23***	−0.23***
Moderating variable
PA	0.07	0.06	0.10	0.11*
Interaction
CS×PA		0.15**
HS×PA				0.24**
R^2	0.28	0.30	0.25	0.30
F	13.12***	12.79***	11.36***	13.08***

Notes: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

Abbreviations: CS, challenge stress; HS, hindrance; PA, psychological availability.

Figure 2 The moderating effect of psychological availability on challenge stress and employee improvisation.

Figure 3 The moderating effect of psychological availability on hindrance stress and employee improvisation.

Table 6 Bootstrapping Results for Moderated Mediation Effect

Psychological Availability	Employee Improvisation
	Effect	SE	LLCI	ULCI
EL→CS→EI
Low (−1SD)	0.02	0.02	−0.01	0.06
High (+1SD)	0.07	0.03	0.02	0.13
Difference	0.05	0.03	0.004	0.110
Index of moderated mediation effect	0.02	0.01	0.002	0.055
EL→HS→EI
Low (−1SD)	0.06	0.03	0.02	0.12
High (+1SD)	−0.01	0.01	−0.04	0.02
Difference	−0.07	0.03	−0.14	−0.02
Index of moderated mediation effect	−0.03	0.02	−0.07	−0.01

Abbreviations: EL, Empowering leadership; CS, Challenge stress; HS, Hindrance stress; EI, Employee improvisation.