Boundary Conditions for Participative Leadership Promote Subordinates' Innovative Work Behaviors: A Time‐Lag Investigation Based on the Conservation of Resources Theory

ABSTRACT This study examines the conditions necessary for supervisors' participative leadership to enhance innovative work behaviors among their subordinates effectively. By incorporating the concepts of resource gain and resource loss from Conservation of Resources Theory, we anticipated that the combination of two variables—psychological contract and psychological safety—would moderate the relationship between participative leadership and innovative work behaviors. Data were collected from 237 participants over two time points, with a three‐month interval, to examine the time‐lag effect of participative leadership on innovative work behaviors. Structural equation modeling was used for statistical analysis. The results indicated that a supervisor's participative leadership positively influences the innovative work behavior of subordinates. However, this positive effect occurs only within the group of individuals who possess a high level of perception regarding both their psychological contract and psychological safety. Participative leadership did not have a significant impact on groups where either one of these factors, or both, was low. The findings suggest that individuals' innovative work behaviors should be reconceptualized as strategies for managing personal resources, influenced by the interaction of multiple factors related to resource gain and resource loss.