Vicarious Empowerment as a Novel Mechanism for Empowering High Power Distance Employees

Prior research has questioned the utility of empowerment for high power distance employees. Rather than abandon empowerment in these contexts, we test the plausibility of empowering high power distance employees vicariously through observation, normalization and legitimization of empowered behavior....

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of cross-cultural psychology Vol. 54; no. 8; pp. 763 - 783
Main Authors Sumpter, Dana McDaniel, Gibson, Cristina B., Phan, Phan Wei Ming Jonathan, Porath, Christine
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.11.2023
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
Cross-cultural psychology
Employees
Empowerment
Normalization
Occupational psychology
Organization theory
Organizational effectiveness
Power
Psychological theories
Social cognition
Social norms
Workplaces
cultural values
employee empowerment
interpersonal relationships
industrial/organizational psychology
social cognition
communication
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Prior research has questioned the utility of empowerment for high power distance employees. Rather than abandon empowerment in these contexts, we test the plausibility of empowering high power distance employees vicariously through observation, normalization and legitimization of empowered behavior. Extending theories of empowerment and social cognition to account for cultural norms, we provide evidence for the effectiveness of vicarious empowerment among those with high power distance. From a sample of 3,383 employees in 10 companies across six countries, we find a positive association between vicarious empowerment and subjective unit performance, that this relationship is mediated by empowerment climate, and that the indirect effect is moderated by power distance orientation. These relationships contrast with prior research which examines more traditional forms of empowerment across cultures. We explain how our findings inform theory on cross-cultural organizational psychology and workplace empowerment.
ISSN:0022-0221
1552-5422
DOI:10.1177/00220221231202400