The Impact of Servant Leadership on Chinese Employees’ Promotive Voice Behavior: Mediating Effect of Psychological Entitlement and Moderating Effect of Role Ambiguity

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of servant leadership on Chinese employees’ promotive voice behavior, and mediating role of psychological entitlement and moderating role of role ambiguity in the relationship. Despite the growing interest of researchers in servant leadership and promotive voice behavior, existing research has not deeply investigated the psychological mechanism and boundary condition in this relationship. Thus, this study examined the relationship between servant leadership and promotive voice behavior based on social exchange theory and social cognitive theory. Furthermore, we focused on the mediating role of psychological entitlement, which can enhance confidence in promotive voice behavior, as well as the moderating role of role ambiguity from the work perspective with the leader-subordinate relationship perspective from servant leadership.<br/> The result showed that servant leadership was positively related to promotive voice behavior. Also, psychological entitlement positively mediated the relationship between servant leadership and promotive voice behavior. The moderating effect of role ambiguity was significant for the relationship. More specifically, the relationship between servant leadership and promotive voice behavior was positive when the perception of role ambiguity was low, whereas the relationship is not significant when the perception of role ambiguity was high. These findings provide meaningful theoretical and practical implications for leaders and researchers.