The relationship between employee psychological empowerment and proactive behavior: Self-efficacy as mediator

I examined the relationship between employees’ psychological empowerment and their proactive behavior, and explored the mediating role of self-efficacy in this relationship. Using structural equation modeling, I conducted an empirical test based on survey data obtained from 337 Master of Business Administration students across 4 universities in South China. The results showed that psychological empowerment and self-efficacy led to proactive behavior. In addition, self-efficacy partially mediated the relationship between psychological empowerment and proactive behavior. These findings highlight the importance of workplace managers fostering employees’ psychological empowerment and self-efficacy to promote proactive employee behavior.