Chain-mediated effects of servant leadership on the physical health of Chinese elementary school teachers

Hongchao Wu^1,2Ruiqi Zhou¹Xiuhong Li³Lihui Yan¹Congying Ma^4,5*

• ¹South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
• ²Kashi University, Kashgar, China
• ³Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, China
• ⁴School of Educational Science, Lingnan Normal University, Zhanjiang, China
• ⁵School of Education, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China

The role of servant leadership in the processes of fostering a healthy work environment and enhancing employee well-being has become an important area of academic inquiry, particularly with respect to the highly stressful and emotional demanding profession of teaching. However, the underlying mechanisms of the relationships to teacher's physical health remain insufficiently understood. Thus, in light of the direct effect hypothesis of social support theory and the job demands–resources model, this study conducted a cross-sectional survey of 827 primary school teachers in China. Descriptive statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS 26.0, chain mediation effects were tested using SPSS PROCESS 4.1 (Model 6) with 5,000 bootstrap samples, and the fit of the hypothesized model was further evaluated using AMOS 26.0. The results revealed significant correlations among servant leadership, hindrance stress, emotional exhaustion, and physical health. Specifically, servant leadership was revealed to be significantly negatively associated with physical health problems. Three distinct mediation pathways were identified: (1) the direct mediating effect of hindrance stress, (2) the direct mediating effect of emotional exhaustion, and (3) the chain-mediated effect of hindrance stress on physical health through emotional exhaustion. These results provide empirical evidence concerning the mechanisms through which leadership influences teachers' health and contribute to improving the physical health of Chinese elementary school teachers.