Navigating the Future: Antecedents and Consequences of Psychology Empowerment in Human-Robot Collaboration within Malaysia’s Smart Industries

In recent years, psychological empowerment has gained significant attention in organizational psychology and business contexts. However, its application to human-robot employees, particularly in the domain of collaborative robots (COBOTscobots), remains underexplored, especially in Southeast Asia and Malaysia where empirical studies are sparse. This pioneering study addresses this gap by applying Spreitzer's (1995) framework and using PLS-SEM to investigate psychological empowerment among Malaysian COBOTcobot-integrated operators in smart manufacturing. The study examines role clarity as a novel moderator alongside traditional antecedents and incorporates authentic leadership and psychological capital as new constructs. Key findings reveal that role clarity significantly enhances the positive effects of psychological empowerment on job engagement but does not impact innovative work behavior. Additionally, authentic leadership and psychological capital are crucial in fostering empowerment. This extended study of the nomological psychology of empowerment provides valuable insights for future research direction on human-robot employees and collaboration dynamics.