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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Positive Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1516361

Inclusive leadership and work-family enrichment: The roles of relational energy and power distance

Provisionally accepted
Zhang Junlin Zhang Junlin 1Liu Zongrui Liu Zongrui 2Wang Jianli Wang Jianli 1*
  • 1 Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
  • 2 Jiangsu Maritime Institute, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Few studies have systematically examined how inclusive leadership affects employee work-family enrichment. Based on social contagion theory and the resource model of work-family enrichment, this research examined how and when inclusive leadership influences employees' relational energy and subsequent work-family enrichment. Additionally, we examined whether power distance might influence the positive effect of inclusive leadership on relational energy. The results from a cross-sectional survey of 673 Chinese participants in Study 1 showed that inclusive leadership is positively related to work-family enrichment, and relational energy mediates the relationship between inclusive leadership and work-family enrichment. We also found that the positive effect of inclusive leadership on relational energy was greater under lower levels of power distance, as was the indirect effect of inclusive leadership on work-family enrichment via relational energy. Study 2, using three-wave data collected from 241 Chinese employees, verified the results that relational energy mediates the relationship between inclusive leadership and work-family enrichment.

    Keywords: inclusive leadership, work-family enrichment, Relational energy, Power distance, Positive Psychology

    Received: 24 Oct 2024; Accepted: 15 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Junlin, Zongrui and Jianli. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Wang Jianli, Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, Nanjing, 210023, Jiangsu Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.