James, Megan (2014) The Empowered Workforce: The Influence of Empowering Leadership on Motivation and Commitment. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
Organisations competing in the current global market are under increasing pressure to devise means of improving productivity and maintaining a competitive edge. Sustaining and developing a highly motivated and committed workforce is key to achieving these goals (Fernet, Austin, & Vallerand, 2012). Empowering Leadership has emerged as a promising leadership practice in response to organisations’ need to harness employee commitment and motivation (Hassan, Mahsud, Yukl, & Prussia, 2013). The aim of the present study was to: (a) investigate the influence of Empowering Leadership on employee’s Affective Commitment; (b) to investigate the influence of Empowering Leadership on Autonomous Motivation (comprising Intrinsic Motivation and Identified Regulation) within the framework of Self-Determination Theory; and (c) to investigate whether the relationship between Empowering Leadership and Affective Commitment was mediated by Intrinsic Motivation or Identified Regulation. Participants (N = 192) were sourced from the researcher networks via a snowball sampling technique and volunteered to complete an online survey. Eligible participants were aged 18 years or over and engaged in paid employment (business owners were excluded). The results supported all hypotheses. Empowering Leadership significantly and positively predicted: Affective Commitment, Autonomous Motivation, Intrinsic Motivation, and Identified Regulation. Further, the relationship between Empowering Leadership and Affective Commitment was partially mediated by both Intrinsic Motivation and Identified Regulation. These findings supported current research by providing further evidence that Empowering Leadership is related to positive outcomes for organisations and employees alike. A “Holy Trinity” of ingredients was identified for successful organisations comprising of: Empowering Leader behaviours, Affectively Committed, and Autonomously Motivated Employees.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology, Counselling and Community (1 Jul 2013 - 31 Dec 2014) |
| Supervisors: | Tony Machin |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) |
| Date Deposited: | 14 Oct 2025 04:43 |
| Last Modified: | 14 Oct 2025 04:43 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Empowering Leadership; Affective Commitment; Self-Determination Theory; Autonomous Motivation; Intrinsic Motivation; Identified Regulation; empowerment; leadership; commitment; motivation; autonomy; |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52444 |
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