The Effect of the Director's Authentic Leadership that MZ Generation Early Childhood teachers acknowledge on the Constructive Voice Behavior of MZ Generation Early Childhood Teachers: Examining the Parallel Mediating Effect of Organizational commitment

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine how the MZ generation (born between 1980 and 2005) early childhood teachers perceive preschool directors' authentic leadership and how their perceptions influenced their organizational commitment and constructive voice behaviors. To this end, a survey was conducted on 242 MZ generation early childhood teachers currently employed in kindergartens and daycare centers across South Korea. Data analysis, performed using SPSS version 26.0, involved calculating frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations. Additionally, the PROCESS macro for SPSS version 3.5, specifically model 4, was utilized to confirm parallel mediation effects. Bootstrap analysis was employed to validate the statistical significance of the mediating effects. The findings of this study were as follows. First, the level of the director's authentic leadership recognized by MZ generation early childhood teachers, constructive voice behavior, and organizational commitment of MZ generation early childhood teachers were all reported as ranging from moderate to high. Second, parallel partial mediating effects were found through emotional and normative commitment in verifying the mediating effect of organizational commitment in the relationship between the director's authentic leadership recognized by MZ generation early childhood teachers and the constructive voice behavior of MZ generation early childhood teachers. These results suggest that the director's authentic leadership influences the constructive voice behavior of MZ generation early childhood teachers, and emotional and normative immersion can play a mediating role in this process to promote constructive voice behavior.