Linking empowering leadership to work-related well-being and project citizenship behavior in the construction context: a self-determination perspective

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the relationships between empowering leadership, basic psychological needs satisfaction, work-related well-being, and project citizenship behavior.Design/methodology/approachDrawing upon the self-determination theory (SDT), a conceptual model was developed and then empirically tested using a cross-sectional survey of 435 project members in Chinese construction projects.FindingsThe results fully support the research hypotheses proposed in the study, illustrating the positive impacts of empowering leadership on work-related well-being and project citizenship behavior, the mediating role of basic psychological needs satisfaction, and the positive association between work-related well-being and project citizenship behavior.Practical implicationsThis research determines the utility of empowering leadership in the context of construction projects, especially in enhancing individual outcomes (i.e. work-related well-being and project citizenship behavior). Therefore, construction project managers can apply empowering leadership to meet the basic psychological needs of subordinates to increase project members' work-related well-being and project citizenship behavior.Originality/valueTo our knowledge, the present study first explores the micro-level impacts of empowering leadership in the construction context. Additionally, this study enriches the understanding of the mediating mechanism between empowering leadership and individual outcomes from a self-determination perspective.