Safety Nudged or Empowerment Fueled? Leadership Mechanisms and Boundary Condition for Follower’s Adaptive Communication Behaviors During the COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis in China

Abstract

Incorporating social information processing theory and literature on organizational learning, this study explores the process approach to internal communication by theorizing and empirically testing a framework of employees’ adaptive communication amidst the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. A cross-sectional survey on full-time employees (n = 983) in Mainland China demonstrated how followers’ perception of leadership inclusiveness was related to the two dimensions of adaptive communication behaviors (i.e. internal voicing and external scouting). Results also showed the two mediating appraisals of inclusive leadership, i.e. psychological empowerment and psychological safety, functioned differently for followers with lower-level positions versus with higher-level ones. Theoretical and practical implications on internal communication, crisis communication, and public relations were elaborated in detail.