The effectiveness of compassionate leadership across cultures: a moderated mediation model

Purpose This study investigates whether the effectiveness of compassionate leadership is culturally contingent by examining the moderating role of national culture in shaping the relationship between compassionate leadership and performance outcomes. Design/methodology/approach Empirical data are gathered from 918 participants across four national contexts, including China, Korea, the United States of America and Denmark. A moderated mediation model is deployed to analyze the effects of compassionate leadership in a cross-cultural context. Findings The results substantiate the moderating influence of culture on the outcomes of compassionate leadership. Compassionate leadership was positively associated with commitment to the leader and team trust, and these relationships, as well as the indirect effects on creativity and agility, were more pronounced in the Chinese and Korean contexts compared to the United States of America and Danish contexts. Additionally, the study finds that the relationship between compassion and social hierarchy is ambidextrous, which may explain why compassionate leadership is more effective in some hierarchical cultural contexts influenced by Confucian values. Originality/value This study contributes to the emerging theory of compassionate leadership by revealing its culture-specific effectiveness and providing new insights into the relationship between compassion and social hierarchy in different national cultural contexts.