Socially responsible leadership and employee’s work passion in public universities in Uganda: the mediating effect of psychological safety

ABSTRACT

The major purpose of this study was to find out the impact of Socially Responsible Leadership on employee’s work passion with mediating role of psychological safety among a sample of 214 permanent faculty members and administrative staff of Public Universities in Uganda. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed among the participants for data collection. Data analysis was done by using SPSS software program, version 23.0. Pearson correlation coefficient and Mediation analysis by using ‘PROCESS’ were applied to find out the association between Socially Responsible Leadership, psychological safety and employee’s work passion as well as the mediating effect of psychological safety between Socially Responsible Leadership and employee’s work passion. The study clearly signified the positive link of Socially Responsible Leadership with psychological safety and work passion. Moreover, the mediation analysis showed that psychological safety partially mediated this link. These findings incite the importance of Socially Responsible Leadership in the organizations by exhibiting that employee’s feeling about psychologically safety which makes them more passionate about work. This study guides the leaders, managers and supervisors that need to pay more attention to behavior at the workplace. Moreover, this study indicates that psychological safety of the employees is strongly affected by the ethical behavior of leader which in return increases the work passion of the employees.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mahadih Kyambade

Mahadih Kyambade is a distinguished Academician and Lecturer in the Depatment of Leadership & Governance, Makerere University Business School. Pursuing a PhD in Responsible Leadership and holds a degree in Masters of Science in Leadership & Governance, Bachelors of Leadership & Governance and Bachelor of Laws of Makerere University. His research interests are in the field of Leadership, Governnace, Psychological Safety, Gender Giversity, Higher Education and Policy. Email: [email protected], [email protected].

Joshua Mugambwa

Joshua Mugambwa holds a PhD in Public Policy of Makerere University. He is currently the Faculty Dean, Faculty of Management and a Senior Lecturer at Makerere University Business School in Uganda. His research interests are in leadership, governance, management, public policy, local development, poverty reduction, business and work ethics. Email: [email protected], [email protected].

Regis Namuddu

Regis Namuddu is the Director, Leadership Center and Lecturer in the Department of Leadership & Governance at Makerere University Business School. She holds a PhD and Masters degrees in Leadership. Her research interests are in the field of Leadership, Governance and Gender Diversity in Organizations. Email: [email protected].

Afulah Namatovu

Afulah Namatovu is a renowned Academician in the field of Office Management. She’s a Lecturer in the Department of Apllied Computing & IT, Makerere University Business School. Holding a Bachelors degree in Office and Information Management of Makerere University. Her research focuses on Office Management, IT, Leadership and Gender issues in Organizations. Email: [email protected].