A Daily Diary Study on Work-Related Need Satisfaction: Influence of Strengths-Based Leadership and Strengths Use

IDA alumna Bilgesu Nail presented her Master thesis at the graduation ceremony of the IDA cohort 2021-2023.

Character strengths are positively valued personality traits. Their use, especially at work, have been associated with plenty of beneficial outcomes. However, it remains unclear how to increase strengths use at work, and the outcomes are not extensively explored. This study aimed to investigate if strengths-based leadership predicts strengths use, while testing for a fundamental well-being outcome of strengths use, namely work-related basic need satisfaction. We used a daily diary method (including all three variables) and therefore accounted for retrospective reporting bias and short-term fluctuations. Data was collected from 72 full-time employees (%56 female and %44 male) for 10 consecutive working days. The sample included participants from two private-sector companies (from IT and HR assessment industries) as well as independent participants who joined separately from their companies. The data was analyzed by fitting a Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model (RI-CLPM). Results revealed a significant effect of strengths use on next day need satisfaction, but no effect of strengths-based leadership on next-day strengths use. Moreover, exploratory analysis for the specific facets of need satisfaction revealed that strengths use predicted higher next day satisfaction of the competence need, but not autonomy or relatedness needs. Unexpectedly, we found a negative relationship between strengths-based leadership and next-day need satisfaction. The exploratory analysis showed that strengths-based leadership did not significantly predict lower satisfaction of the specific needs, but it predicted lower overall need satisfaction. Our findings provide insight into effective mechanisms that promote employee well-being and strengths use in the workplace.

Keywords: strengths-based leadership, strengths use, basic need satisfaction, daily diary, full-time employees, repeated measurements, random intercept cross-lagged panel modeling

Bilgesu is now continuing her career outside of academia as a workforce management specialist. Congratulations Bilgesu and best of luck with your new position!