Servant leadership and members' well-beingin China's village committees: A multilevelanalysis of the serial mediating roles of serving culture and organization-based selfesteem

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of servant leadership on the well-being of village committee members within China's rural communities, examining the mediating roles of serving culture and organization-based self-esteem. Drawing on social identity theory and employing a multilevel research design, the research analyzes two-wave survey data collected from 263 members of village committees, the grassroots rural public organizations in China. The results suggest a positive correlation between servant leadership and village committee members' well-being, with serving culture and organization-based self-esteem acting as key mediators in this relationship. Furthermore, these mediating effects occur sequentially: servant leadership fosters a serving culture, which in turn boosts organization-based self-esteem, ultimately enhancing member well-being. These findings offer new insights into the role of servant leadership in effective public management in rural communities