THE ROLE OF EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF EMPLOYEES AND PEOPLE-ORIENTED LEADERSHIP IN PERCEIVING PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY IN ORGANIZATIONS

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine whether the emotional development of employees, specifically attachment, acts as a moderator determining the conditions under which people-oriented leaders can enhance the sense of psychological safety within their teams. A total of 246 participants (54% female), aged 22 to 59 (M = 32.10; SD = 7.58), employed in corporate-type organizations, took part in the research. The instruments used included the Psychological Safety Questionnaire, the Serbian version of the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale, and the People-Oriented Leadership subscale from the Ethical Leadership Scale at Work. The results revealed that the dimension of anxiety predicted psychological safety, and a statistically significant interaction was observed between this dimension and people-oriented leadership. The findings demonstrated that a positive inner model could significantly enhance the perception of psychological safety when the effect of people-oriented leadership was absent. However, it was also found that as the effect of people-oriented leadership increased, psychological safety increased as well, independently of the level of employee attachment. The practical implications of these results were discussed, considering the context of attachment theory and the conservation of resources theory.