Leadership, happiness, and extra-role behavior: The role of happiness at work as a mediator between instrumental leadership and OCB in newcomers

Abstract The present article in the journal “Gruppe. Interaktion. Organisation. Zeitschrift für Angewandte Organisationspsychologie (GIO)” investigates the longitudinal relationship between instrumental leadership, happiness at work, and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) among organizational newcomers. Leaders have a strong impact on the affective experience and performance of newcomers immediately after they enter an organization. Based on affective events theory and social exchange theory, we predict that instrumental leadership relates to newcomers’ happiness at work and their OCB. We performed a mediation analysis with longitudinal survey data (three questionnaires: immediately after entry, after two weeks, and after four weeks) among 121 newcomers. The findings show that happiness at work fully mediates the relationship between instrumental leadership and OCB among newcomers. Contributing to organizational socialization research, leadership research, and research on happiness at work in positive psychology, this article provides a novel perspective on the role of instrumental leadership for newcomers early after entry. Furthermore, it underscores the importance of happiness at work in linking leadership with OCB. Practical implications regarding the role of leadership and happiness at work for affective experiences and newcomer extra-role behaviors are discussed.