Leadership Styles, Psychological Factors, and Employee Commitment to Service Quality in the Hotel Industry

ABSTRACT

This study examines the mediating role of psychological meaningfulness and safety between leadership styles and employee commitment to service quality (ECSQ) drawing on self-concept theory. A total of 446 hotel employees working in the hotel industry in Bangladesh participated in a cross-sectional survey. Partial least square results indicate that servant leaders have both direct and indirect effects on ECSQ through psychological meaningfulness and safety. Testing the mediating effect of each psychological condition according to self-concept theory reveals the differences between the servant and transactional leadership styles. Transactional leaders do not positively influence ECSQ directly, but do so through psychological meaningfulness, and not through psychological safety. The results of the study imply that hospitality professionals should concentrate on developing psychologically safe and meaningful work environments by inculcating the servant leadership style.

KEYWORDS:

• Servant leadership style
• employee commitment to service quality
• transactional leadership style
• meaningfulness
• safety