Frontiers in Psychology (May 2022)

Nexus of Ethical Leadership, Career Satisfaction, Job Embeddedness, and Work Engagement in Hospitality Industry: A Sequential Mediation Assessment

  • Shoukat Iqbal Khattak,
  • Aftab Haider,
  • Syed Khalil Ahmed,
  • Syed Tahir Hussain Rizvi,
  • Lin Shaokang

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.865899
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13

Abstract

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The paper proposes a research model explaining the sequential mediation effect of job embeddedness (JE) and work engagement (WENG) between ethical leadership (EL) and career satisfaction (CS). The model also examines whether JE heightens WENG, a factor indirectly influenced by ethical practices ending in employee satisfaction. The study used a time-lagged data collection procedure and survey responses of 247 hotel workers in China. Data were analyzed through structural equation modeling. The results showed that EL directly and indirectly (through sequential mediation effect of JE and WENG) contributes to employee CS. The present empirical framework extends the hospitality industry literature by explaining the precise mechanism (i.e., JE and WENG) through which EL generates CS among hospitality workers in China. The paper offers theoretical and practical implications and future research directions.

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