Work engagement contagion from leader to follower through cognitive and affective mechanisms

Purpose

The main purpose of the current research is to examine affective and cognitive mechanisms by which the trickle-down effect of work engagement from leader to follower takes place.

Design/methodology/approach

The current research consisted of two independent studies. In study 1, an experience sampling method was used (N = 1,321 data points from 171 participants) to test within-person effects. In study 2, the authors recruited 266 employees working in 61 teams with two data collections one month apart, to test between-team effects among variables.

Findings

In two independent studies, leaders' work engagement resulted in followers engaging in surface acting (an affective process) and developing self-efficacy (a cognitive process), which in turn resulted in followers' work engagement.

Originality/value

The current research provides some clarifications to the literature on work contagion of engagement by examining dual mechanisms. In particular, although previous research emphasized the negative aspects of surface acting, the current research suggests that surface acting can be potentially helpful by facilitating the contagion effect of work engagement leaders to followers. Further, this research also examines the facilitative role of self-efficacy in mediating the relationship between a leader's work engagement and followers' work engagement. Finally, the authors conducted two independent studies that used different research designs, and results were consistent across the two studies, which can provide evidence for the robustness of the results.