The Deteriorating Role of Active Transactional Leadership on Employees Perceived Uncertainty and Emotional Exhaustion: Evidence from Educational Sector of Thailand

Abstract

Given the seriousness of the COVID-19 crisis that impacted organizations all over the world, study on the operational variables impacting the psychological well-being of the workers of an organization affected by the crisis has been insufficient. Therefore, the present study aimed to highlight the role of active transactional leadership of employees’ emotional exhaustion through their perceived uncertainties. For this purpose, a cross-sectional study has been carried out among 309 employees working in Thai educational sector and the data was collected through self-administered questionnaires. The collected data was then analyzed by adopting PLS-SEM approach using SmartPLS 3.0 software. The findings of the study confirmed the direct relationships of active transactional leadership with perceived uncertainties. Also, the study established the direct association of perceived uncertainties with employee emotional exhaustion. The findings further confirmed the mediation of perceived uncertainties between the relationship of active transactional leadership and employee emotional exhaustion.