The effects of organizational trust and empowering leadership on group conflict: psychological safety as a mediator

Purpose In a knowledge-based economy, employees’ perception of psychological safety in their wok unit is critical for group conflict. The purpose this study to investigate the mediating role between predictors (i.e. organizational trust and empowering leadership) outcome variable, Design/methodology/approach Data was drawn from 633 employees global automobile company headquartered South Korea. Construct validity measurement model examined using confirmatory factor analysis. hypothesized tested by structural equation modeling bootstrap Findings Organizational leadership accounted 68% variance safety. three antecedents trust, safety) explained 20% conflicts. Psychological significantly fully mediated relationship conflict Practical implications Human resources organization development professionals can help feel more psychologically safe an developing leaders making trustworthy culture. When perceive high level safety, they are likely less team. Originality/value This consequences knowledge workers non-Western cultural context. played pivotal as mediator. To best authors’ knowledge, first that empirically found direct link empowerment