How does servant leadership affect the job satisfaction of tourism employees? The mediating role of psychological capital.

INTRODUCTION

In the service-intensive tourism industry, employee wellbeing is a critical determinant of service quality and organizational performance. Drawing on Positive Organizational Behavior and Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, this study examines the mechanism linking perceived servant leadership to job satisfaction among tourism employees, specifically investigating the mediating role of psychological capital.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: Empirical data were collected via an anonymous questionnaire survey of 200 frontline employees from tourism enterprises (travel agencies, scenic spots, and hotels). Hierarchical regression analysis and Bootstrap mediation analysis were employed to test the hypotheses.

FINDINGS: The results indicate that: (1) Perceived servant leadership is significantly positively associated with job satisfaction (p < 0.001); (2) Employee-perceived servant leadership is significantly positively associated with employees' psychological capital; and (3) Psychological capital partially mediates the relationship between employee-perceived servant leadership and job satisfaction.

ORIGINALITY/VALUE: These findings extend the theoretical understanding of leadership and wellbeing in the tourism context and offer practical insights for fostering a sustainable workforce through leadership development.