The Influence of Conveyed Psychological Capital on Followership : Empirical Studies Applying the EASI Model

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to empirically determine which components of Conveyed Psychological Capital (Conveyed PsyCap) affect followers’ followership behavior. To fulfill these purposes, we took an empirical approach to verify hypotheses derived from past research. We contacted 300 full-time employees in Japanese organizations from a diverse range of industries to participate in this research through the Internet survey company. However, we excluded some answers because inappropriate responses were included. We wanted to examine the followership behavior of Japanese followers toward their managers, so we selected the respondent who was in a non-managerial position and whose leader was in a managerial position. Thus, the final analysis included 273 responses. We constructed a hypothesis by applying the emotion as social information (EASI) model. The EASI model suggests that emotional expressions provide information to observers and thus exert interpersonal influence on the observers’ attitudes, and behaviors. Our hypothesis is as follows; Hypothesis 1 is” Self-efficacy of Conveyed PsyCap positively influences Followership (active behavior)”. And Hypothesis 2 is “Optimism of Conveyed PsyCap positively influences Followership (active behavior)”. After analysis, Hypotheses 1 and 2 were supported.