The role of group-level perceived organizational support and collective affective commitment in the relationship between leaders' directive and supportive behaviors and group-level helping behaviors

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine a model linking directive and supportive leadership to group-level helping behaviors via group-level perceived organizational support (GPOS) and collective affective commitment (CAC). Design/methodology/approach Using data from 115 business units of an international retailer, the authors tested and compared the theoretical model against more parsimonious solutions using (2) difference tests. The hypotheses were examined within a structural model. Findings The results show that GPOS acts as a mediator in the relationship between leadership behaviors and CAC and between directive leadership and group-level helping behaviors. Supportive leadership is directly related to CAC and group-level helping behaviors. Research limitations/implications Implications of these findings for research on supportive and directive leadership are discussed. Originality/value This paper proposed a model that examined intermediate linkages between directive and supportive leadership and group-level helping behaviors. In doing so, the authors provide a preliminary response to recent calls for examination of mediators of task-oriented and relations-oriented leadership effects (Judge et al., 2004).