Predicting teacher voice behaviour: The influence of distributed leadership, psychological empowerment and power distance orientation in Kuwait

Teacher voice behaviour is a significant instrument for developing positive change, better decision-making and raised school efficacy at an educational institution, with a principal's leadership facilitating this mechanism. The purpose of this study is to investigate how and under what conditions a school principal's implementation of distributed leadership affects teacher voice behaviour within their school. Data from 1024 teachers across 36 public schools in Kuwait was examined using regression analysis and bootstrapping methods. This research examined a moderated mediation model of distributed leadership effects upon teacher voice behaviour, with teacher psychological empowerment included as the mediator and power distance orientation as the moderator. Results revealed a partial mediation model and found that distributed leadership had significant direct and indirect effects upon teacher voice behaviour. Power distance orientation negatively moderated the relationship between psychological empowerment and teacher voice behaviour. This study contributes to existing distributed leadership literature by identifying psychological empowerment as an additional mediator, and power distance orientation as a boundary condition, in the relationship between distributed leadership and teacher voice behaviour. This study's findings could provide the conceptual basis for interventions designed to promote teacher voice behavior.