An examination of the mediating role of psychological empowerment on the relations between the job, interpersonal relationships, and work outcomes

A field investigation of 337 employees and their immediate superiors tested the mediating role of empowerment in relations between job characteristics , leader-member exchange (LMX), team-member exchange (TMX), and work outcom es. The meaning and competence dimensions of empowerment mediated the relat ion between job characteristics and work satisfaction. The meaning dimensio n also mediated the relation between job characteristics and organizational commitment. Contrary to prediction, empowerment did not mediate relations between LMX, TMX, and the outcome variables. Rather, LMX and TMX were direc tly related to organizational commitment. In addition,TMX was directly rela ted to job performance. These findings suggest that work satisfaction is ex plained largely by job characteristics (through empowerment) but that LMX a nd TMX combine with job characteristics and empowerment to explain variatio n in organizational commitment and job performance.