Empowering leadership and the role of work-related curiosity in employee job crafting behavior: the role of low gender egalitarianism

PurposeHow leaders' empowerment impacts followers' job performance in learning organizations seeks much attention. Under the lens of self-determination theory, this research examines the mediating role of work-related curiosity between empowering leadership and job-crafting behaviors. Furthermore, by applying trait activation theory, this study aims to examine the moderating role of gender egalitarianism in the relationship between empowering leadership and work-related curiosity among teachers.Design/methodology/approachA time-lagged data from 310 teachers was collected. The quantitative research method under the deductive approach and positivism research philosophy was applied. The data was analyzed through the SPSS and structured equation modeling technique under SMART-PLS.FindingsThe results show that empowering leadership is positively related to job crafting dimensions. Simultaneously, work-related curiosity mediates these predictive relations. Moreover, low gender egalitarianism moderates empowering leadership and work-related curiosity.Originality/valueInvestigating the direct and indirect effects of empowering leadership on the dimensions of job crafting is scarce, especially in learning organizations with a low gender egalitarian culture. By using the self-determination theory, this study analyzed work-related curiosity as a mediating path between empowering leadership and job crafting. The cultural circumstances under empowering leadership are important for work-related curiosity. Finally, the moderating role of gender egalitarianism is established between empowering leadership and work-related curiosity in the unique context of an underdeveloped country, Pakistan. In addition, this study provides important theoretical and managerial implications for learning organizations for needful job crafting behaviors.