Transformational leadership and follower citizenship behavior: the roles of paternalism and institutional collectivism

The current study examines the relationship between transformational leadership and citizenship behavior as mediated by paternalism. In addition, individual-level institutional collectivism orientation is hypothesized to moderate the relationship between transformational leadership and paternalism. Two hundred and forty-six employees (123 managers/supervisors and 123 subordinates) participated in a survey conducted in eight of the top 45 high-performing firms listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. The study suggests that transformational leadership is positively related to follower citizenship behavior through a pervasive cultural feature in the region, that is, paternalism. Individual-level institutional collectivism moderates the relationship between transformational leadership and paternalism, such that the relationship is stronger when institutional collectivism is higher rather than lower. Analysis of mediated moderation also indicates that institutional collectivism moderates the mediating effects of paternalism on transformational leadership-citizenship behavior linkage. Implications of the study findings for research and practice as well as future research directions are discussed at the conclusion of the paper.