The Impact of Servant Leadership on Proactive Behaviors: A Study Based on Cognitive Evaluation Theory

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between servant leadership and proactive behaviors. Apart from this, drawing on the cognitive evaluation theory, we regard that proactive behaviors are driven by intrinsic motivation and further propose three psychological constructs to clarify the underlying mechanisms of servant leadership on employees’ proactive behaviors: Job autonomy, leader-member exchange and role breadth self-efficacy. Using a sample of 227 leader-employee dyads from two companies, the empirical results show that: 1) Servant leadership had positive effects on individual task proactivity and team member proactivity; 2) The relationship between servant leadership and individual task proactivity was mediated by job autonomy and role breadth self-efficacy, while leader-member exchange and role breadth self-efficacy mediated the influence of servant leadership on team member proactivity. All hypotheses were supported. Overall, this study enriches and develops related theories of proactive behaviors’ influencing factors. It uses cognitive evaluation theory to integrate the mechanisms that motivate employees’ proactive behaviors. It species the different psychological processes that servant leadership promotes employees’ proactive behaviors directed to different targets. It provides important references for managers to effectively encourage employees’ individual task proactivity and team member proactivity. Besides, limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed at the end of the article.