The mediating role of emotional labor on the effect of leadership styles on employees' job engagement: A research on private sector employees

In this study, the effects of the managers' directive leadership and participatory leadership styles on the emotional labor and job engagement of the employees were examined within the scope of the mediation model. For this purpose, longitudinal data were collected from 395 employees at two different times in eleven companies located in the Toroslar district of Mersin. The first data collection process was completed in August 2022 and the second data collection process was completed in November 2022. Hierarchical Regression analysis and the Bootstrapping % 95 Confidence Interval Method were used to test the hypotheses put forward in the study. As a result of the mediation tests, it was found that the display of natural emotional labor did not mediate the effect of directive leaders on the level of employee job engagement in the measurements made at different times. Additionally, it was seen that the display of labor in the form of surface and deep acting has a mediating role in the relationship between Directive Leadership and Employee Job Engagement. On the other hand, it has been seen that the natural, surface and deep acting of the employees has a mediating effect between Participatory Leaders and Employee Job Engagement. The findings were discussed in the context of the literature. Keywords: Participatory Leadership, Directive Leadership, Emotional Labor, Job Engagement, Longitudinal Research, Mediation Test