To share or not to share: How perceived institutional empowerment shapes employee perceived shared leadership

The present study aims to expand the existing research by uncovering the overlooked role of situational factors in shaping employee perceived shared leadership. To further advance this field of research, our study introduces a novel situational phenomenon called perceived institutional empowerment. Based on social information processing theory and adaptive leadership theory, we assume that perceived institutional empowerment may have a positive impact on perceived shared leadership via a chain mediating mechanism of perceived organizational support (POS) and psychological safety. Using a sample of 302 participants from a large Chinese service company, the hypotheses were successfully validated. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed in our study.