RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INCLUSIVE LEADERSHIP, PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL EMPOWERMENT AT THE WORKPLACE: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

The presented methodological literature review is a study of the interdependence of the aspects inclusive leadership, psychological safety, and psychological empowerment in contemporary organizations. According to the social exchange theory and the psychological theories of motivation, the review confirms the results of the empirical studies, peer-reviewed sources, and hypothesizes the mediated model where the mediator is the psychological safety between the inclusive leadership and psychological empowerment. The three research hypotheses administered through archival analysis include (H1) Psychological safety is positively predicted by inclusive leadership, (H2) Psychological empowerment is positively predicted by psychological safety, and the hypotheses (H3) includes the relationship between inclusive leadership and psychological empowerment as mediated by psychological safety. In databases: Scopus, Web of science and Google Scholar, 45 databases and articles were searched and reviewed in the period 1995-2024 based on PRISMA. The results indicate that each of the hypotheses is mostly accepted and that the effect sizes are moderate to large (e.g., r =.39 -.59), between safety and leadership; r =.45- 70, between safety and empowerment; indirect 2 =.11- 18, between safety and intermediate variables). Practical implications would include the encouragement of inclusive leadership that may contribute to enhancing the engagement of staff members and their creativity. Limitations and the future research directions are discussed.