The cultural component of employee job satisfaction: An international study of relational leadership

Public leadership literature documents how relational leadership can foster employee job satisfaction by offering interpersonal support and opportunities for collaboration and professional development. However, the mechanisms linking these resources to job satisfaction may be shaped by national culture, suggesting a moderating effect of culture on relational leadership approaches. Using data from the Trends in Science and Mathematics Survey (TIMSS) for 2015 for over 6,000 teachers in 33 countries, hierarchical linear modeling estimates show that self-orientation (the individualism-collectivism dimension) moderates the link between two leadership approaches and job satisfaction. These findings suggest that culture could be a small yet relevant piece of the job satisfaction puzzle, which may play a role in efforts to sustain employee well-being in diverse organizations and in more nuanced models of public leadership and human capital management.