Relationship between authentic leadership and burnout: the mediating role of civility in healthcare sector in Portugal

Purpose This study aims to propose a model to examine the relationship between authentic leadership (AL), civility and burnout among health-care employees. This model proposes that civility mediates the relationship between AL and burnout. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 360 (72% response rate) registered health-care employees working in two large public hospital centers in Lisbon, Portugal. The sample was predominantly female (79.4%). The instruments used to measure the variables were the AL inventory, workplace civility scale and Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey. Hayes’ PROCESS macro for mediation analysis in SPSS was used to test the hypothesized model. Findings The results suggest that AL has a positive direct effect on civility, adding to the negative effect of the aforementioned variables on burnout. Furthermore, civility was found to have a mediating effect on AL and burnout. Research limitations/implications This study may be useful for hospital management and the health-care sector as a whole, underlining the importance of AL and civility in preventing detrimental effects of burnout among health-care employees. Originality/value Considering that mainstream literature on AL mainly focuses on nurses, there is a scarcity of literature integrating the relationship between AL, civility and burnout among a wide range of occupational groups in the health-care sector. Furthermore, the research model has not been previously introduced when considering the mediating role of civility in the relationship between AL and burnout.