Leadership styles and knowledge workers’ work engagement: Psychological capital as a mediator

This study explored the mechanism underlying the effects of leadership styles on work engagement among knowledge workers. Data were collected among employees working in three IT enterprises in Henan, China. We adopted a two-wave cross-lagged design with a time gap of four months. The statistical methods included descriptive statistics, structural equation modeling (SEM), and bootstrap analysis. The results showed: (1) transformational and transactional leadership positively predicted knowledge workers’ psychological capital and work engagement; in comparison to transactional leadership, transformational leadership had stronger effects on knowledge workers’ psychological capital and work engagement; (2) knowledge workers’ psychological capital positively predicted their work engagement; and (3) knowledge workers’ psychological capital partially mediated the effects of leadership styles on their work engagement.