Transformational leadership and autonomy support management behaviors : The role of specificity in predicting employees’ psychological health

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between transformational leadership (TL), autonomy support management behaviors and employees’ psychological health. Design/methodology/approach A total of 512 Canadian workers assessed their immediate supervisor’s level of TL and autonomy support management behaviors. Participants also assessed their own psychological health through measures of psychological well-being and burnout at work. Findings Results from structural equation modeling indicate that TL is related to employee psychological well-being and burnout. This effect is fully mediated by more specific autonomy support and psychological control management behaviors. These results suggest that autonomy support and psychological control management behaviors may have a more proximal effect on employees’ psychological health than TL does. Also, managers’ leadership and behaviors appear to better predict employees’ psychological well-being at work than employee burnout. Practical implications Managers with a TL style employ more autonomy support and fewer psychological control behaviors, which makes employees happier and less burned out. Based on these results, leadership training programs would gain to focus on the development of more specific management behaviors among leaders, such as autonomy support, to enhance employees’ psychological health, especially their well-being. Originality/value This research expands understanding of the relationship between TL and the psychological health of employees by shedding light on the mediating role of autonomy support management behaviors in this relationship.