Leading by Example: Identity Leadership and Mental Health in Men’s Sheds Members

The impact of leadership on members' mental health outcomes in community-based mutual-aid organizations such as Men's Shed is unknown. We analyzed (a) whether identity leadership is associated with Shed members' mental health, and (b) whether these links are mediated by psychological safety, social network quality, and social identity. Path analysis on data collected from 162 Australian Men's Shed members revealed statistically significant associations between identity leadership and each mechanism, and our model accounted for significant variance in mental health outcomes (14%-24%, <i>p</i>s < .001). Only social network quality and psychological safety were associated with unique variance in mental health outcomes. All indirect effects via social network quality and psychological safety were significant. These findings suggest the proposed mechanisms explain the relationship between identity leadership mental health outcomes in mutual-aid organizations such as Men's Sheds.