Authentic Leadership and Innovative Work Behavior in Higher Education: The Roles of Resilience and Innovation Support

Authors

  • Hongna Zhang
  • Nur Atiqah Abdullah
  • Roshayati Abdul Hamid
  • Juhari Noor Faezah

Keywords:

authentic leadership; employee resilience; innovation support; innovative work behavior; higher education

Abstract

This cross-sectional, self-report study examined how authentic leadership relates to innovative work behavior among academic, academic-management, and administrative/professional employees in higher education, and whether employee resilience and perceived organizational support for innovation explain when this relationship is stronger. Data were obtained from 412 employees across public, private, and applied/technical universities. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to assess the reflective measurement model, direct relationships, mediation, moderation, conditional indirect effects, predictive performance, and robustness across employee and institutional groups. Authentic leadership was positively related to employee resilience (β = .624) and innovative work behavior (β = .296), while resilience was positively related to innovative work behavior (β = .458). The indirect effect through resilience was significant (β= .286, 95% CI [.238, .335]). Perceived organizational support for innovation strengthened the resilience–innovation relationship (β= .125, 95% CI [.072, .175]), and the index of moderated mediation was positive (index = .078, 95% CI [.044, .111]). The model explained 69.0% of the variance in innovative work behavior. Because the design was cross-sectional and single source, the findings are interpreted as statistical relationships rather than causal effects.

https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.25.9.32

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Published

2026-09-30

How to Cite

Zhang, H., Abdullah, N. A. ., Hamid, R. A. ., & Faezah, J. N. (2026). Authentic Leadership and Innovative Work Behavior in Higher Education: The Roles of Resilience and Innovation Support. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 25(9), 799–824. Retrieved from https://ijlter.net/index.php/ijlter/article/view/3068

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Vol. 25 No. 9 (2026): September 2026

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Copyright (c) 2026 Hongna Zhang, Nur Atiqah Abdullah, Roshayati Abdul Hamid, Juhari Noor Faezah

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