Servant leadership and healthy work relationships in university context: a moderated mediation analysis of psychological safety and socially responsible leadership

Organizations face challenges in fostering healthy work relationships among staff, which are crucial for organizational effectiveness and employee well-being. Despite the recognized importance of servant leadership and psychological safety in promoting healthy work environments, there is limited understanding of how these factors interact with socially responsible leadership to influence work relationships within the setting of Ugandan public universities. Therefore, our study investigates the relationship between servant leadership, healthy work relationships, psychological safety, and socially responsible leadership within public universities in Uganda. Drawing on a sample of 241 staff, a moderated mediation analysis was conducted to find out the indirect effect of servant leadership on healthy work relationships through psychological safety, moderated by socially responsible leadership. The results indicate a significant positive association between servant leadership and healthy work relationships. Furthermore, psychological safety was found to mediate this relationship, suggesting workers who believe there is more servant leadership experience greater psychological safety, leading to healthier work relationships. Additionally, socially responsible leadership was found to moderate the way servant leadership indirectly affects healthy work relationships via psychological safety. These findings underscore the prominence of fostering servant leadership qualities and promoting a supportive organizational climate characterized by psychological safety and ethical leadership practices.