Authentic Leadership and Positive Psychological Capital: The Mediating Role of Trust at the Group Level of Analysis

Authors

Rachel Clapp-Smith, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Gretchen Vogelgesang, State University of New York at New PaltzFollow
James Avey, Central Washington University

Date of this Version

2-2009

Comments

Published in Organizational Studies 15:3 (February 2009), pp. 227-240; doi 10.1177/1548051808326596 Copyright © 2009 Baker College; published by SAGE Publications. Used by permission. http://jlos.sagepub.com

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between authentic leadership, trust, positive psychological capital (PsyCap), and performance at the group level of analysis. Data were collected from a small Midwestern chain of retail clothing stores, a context in which the needs for both authentic leadership and a positive sales staff are integral to the firm’s performance. Constructs were aggregated to the store (group) level to test relationships between perceptions of authentic leadership, trust in management, positive psychological capital, and performance. Trust in management was found to mediate the relationship between PsyCap and performance and to partially mediate the relationship be¬tween authentic leadership and performance. Future discussions and implications are discussed.