A moderated mediation effect of symbolic and substantive preventive actions on employees' preventive behavior in the context of Covid-19
Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy
; 2022.
Article
in English
| Web of Science | ID: covidwho-2192385
ABSTRACT
This study utilizes Social Information Processing (SIP) theory to investigate the relationship between organizational preventive actions (substantive vs. symbolic), employee preventive behavior, the mediating role of conspiracy beliefs, and moderating role of leadership integrity in the context of Covid-19. The study explains leadership integrity as a boundary condition to facilitate or hinder the mediated relationship between organizational actions and employee preventive behavior (EPB). The hypothesized model was tested using partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) on two-wave data collected from 281 respondents. The results revealed that substantive actions do not predict EPB directly but through conspiracy beliefs. Contrary to these, symbolic actions negatively predict EPB directly. Leadership integrity moderates the relationship between substantive actions and conspiracy beliefs, while the interaction effect with symbolic actions is not supported. The findings of this study caution managers to walk their talk because employees critically observe the most apparent actions, especially when management fails to practice them. The study contributes to social information processing theory by pointing to leadership integrity as a source of authenticity to curb the negative impact of symbolic actions and catalyst the effect of substantive actions on employee preventive behavior.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
Databases of international organizations
Database:
Web of Science
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
Language:
English
Journal:
Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
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