Health-Oriented Leadership and Psychological Health: A Serial Mediation Model

The increasing psychosocial risk factors and psychological distress in organizations highlight the growing importance of psychological health. Health oriented leadership is known to have a significant impact on enhancing employee health and well-being. This study, based on the Conservation of Resources Theory, aims to examine the relationship between health-oriented leadership and employees' psychological health and the factors influencing this relationship. Psychological empowerment and psychological resilience are explored as mediators through different mechanisms. The data were collected through a survey administered to 385 healthcare professionals selected using convenience sampling The research model and hypotheses were tested using SPSS, AMOS, and the PROCESS Macro add-in through preliminary analyses and serial multiple mediation analysis with bootstrapping. The findings indicate that health-oriented leadership is a predictor of psychological health and that both psychological empowerment and psychological resilience act as mediators in this relationship, both individually and serially. The results theoretically support the gain spiral proposition of Conservation of Resources Theory, emphasizing the importance of personal resources such as psychological empowerment and psychological resilience alongside health-oriented leadership in improving psychological health.