Structural Equation Modeling of the Effect of Servant Leadership on Employees’ Self-Regulation: The Mediating Role of Organizational Citizenship Behavior

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of servant leadership on employees’ self-regulation and to examine the mediating role of organizational citizenship behavior among administrative staff of the West Azerbaijan Department of Education. This research was applied in purpose and descriptive-correlational in design using structural equation modeling. The statistical population consisted of 1,650 administrative employees of the Department of Education in West Azerbaijan Province. Based on stratified random sampling and Krejcie and Morgan’s table, 330 participants were selected, of whom 287 completed questionnaires were suitable for analysis. Data collection instruments included Patterson’s Servant Leadership Questionnaire (2004), Lee and Allen’s Organizational Citizenship Behavior Scale (2002), and Bouffard’s Self-Regulation Questionnaire (1995). Content and construct validity of the instruments were confirmed, and Cronbach’s alpha, composite reliability, and average variance extracted values demonstrated satisfactory reliability and validity. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 28 and SmartPLS version 3 through the partial least squares approach. The structural equation modeling results indicated that servant leadership had a significant direct effect on organizational citizenship behavior (β=0.78, p<0.001) and employees’ self-regulation (β=0.23, p<0.001). Organizational citizenship behavior also showed a significant positive effect on self-regulation (β=0.61, p<0.001). Bootstrap analysis further revealed that organizational citizenship behavior significantly mediated the relationship between servant leadership and self-regulation (β=0.47, p<0.001). In addition, model fit indices, including GOF=0.63 and Q²=0.49, confirmed the adequacy and strong explanatory power of the proposed model. The findings demonstrated that servant leadership can enhance employees’ self-regulation both directly and indirectly through the promotion of organizational citizenship behavior. These results highlight the importance of supportive and human-centered leadership approaches in educational organizations and suggest that strengthening servant leadership behaviors among managers can improve employees’ responsibility, commitment, and self-management capacities. Therefore, institutionalizing servant leadership principles within educational systems may contribute to improved organizational effectiveness and the development of human capital.