Transformational Leadership and Voice: When Does Felt Obligation to the Leader Matter?

Drawing on the notion that felt obligation is an important motivation variable that drives employees’ behavior, this study examines how leaders can evoke felt obligation in followers and to what extent such obligation can subsequently promote follower voice behavior. Using data from 384 Chinese employees and their 130 managers, we find that followers’ felt obligation to the leader (FOTL) serves as a mediator in the relationship between transformational leadership and employee voice behavior and that the mediation effect of FOTL is moderated by followers’ power distance orientation (PDO), such that the mediation effect is significant only for employees with low PDO. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.