Leader affiliative humor and employee stewardship behavior: multilevel role of leader-based self-esteem and positive team affective tone

Purpose Drawing on the social information processing (SIP) theory, this study aims to analyze the effect of leader affiliative humor on employee stewardship behavior. Furthermore, this study explores the mediating role of leader-based self-esteem and positive team affective tone (PTAT), along with the multi-level moderating role of PTAT. Design/methodology/approach The research sample consisted of 405 team members, gathered from 77 teams in China. In this study, a hierarchical linear model and bootstrapping analysis were employed to test the postulated hypotheses. Findings The study findings indicate that leader affiliative humor exerts a significant positive influence on employee stewardship behavior, PTAT and leader-based self-esteem, respectively. Parallel to this, leader-based self-esteem and PTAT mediate the relationship between leader affiliative humor and employee stewardship behavior, respectively. Moreover, PTAT significantly moderates the indirect effect of leader affiliative humor on employee stewardship behavior via leader-based self-esteem. Specifically, the higher the PTAT, the stronger the indirect linkage between leader affiliative humor and employee stewardship behavior. Research limitations/implications The study proposes for the first time that leader affiliative humor, as a positive communicative message, effectively promotes stewardship behavior among employees, which integrates the literature of leader humor and stewardship. Moreover, this study expands the theoretical explanation of SIP theory and multilevel theory on the cognition and affective mechanisms to elucidate the multi-level influence processes of leader affiliative humor on employee stewardship behavior. Practical implications This study proves that managers should employ an effective leader humor strategy to instill employee stewardship behavior, and in the meantime, organizations in China should strengthen the training and cultivation of humor skills for leaders in practice. Originality/value This study contributes to the explanation of the development of employee stewardship behavior from the perspective of the leader communicative strategy, such as humor.