Effects of Trust in Subordinate and System Control on Leader Empowering Behavior: Empirical Study from China

The present study addressed the antecedents of leader empowering behavior that was overlooked in previous studies, by proposing and empirically testing the relationship of trust in subordinate and system control with leader empowering behavior. The survey data was from a total of 567 matched leader-subordinate dyads. The result of hierarchical regression analysis indicated that both of trust in subordinate and system control were positively related to three dimensions of leader empowering behaviors, involving participative decision, informing and coaching. Moreover, system control had significant moderating effects on the relationship of trust in subordinate and three dimensions of leader empowering behavior. In specifically, the relationship between trust in subordinate and leader empowering behavior will be stronger for those lower in system control. At last, the theoretical and practice implications of the present study were discussed.