Examining Attitudes, Norms, and Control Toward Safety Behaviors as Mediators in the Leadership-Safety Motivation Relationship

The aims of the current study were to examine the effects of various safety leader behaviors on safety motivation. In addition, this study investigated the role of attitudes, norms, and perceived control toward safety behaviors as mediating mechanisms in the relationship between safety-specific leader behaviors and safety motivation. The sample for this study consisted of 168 members from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk who were employed in high-risk industries and occupations. The current study utilized a prospective design, whereby participants completed the survey at two points in time, separated by 3 months. While safety-specific transformational, contingent reward, and management-by-exception active leader behaviors were positively related to safety motivation, management-by-exception passive and laissez-faire behaviors did not exhibit any relationship with safety motivation. Furthermore, safety attitudes and safety norms mediated the relationship between active leader behaviors and safety motivation. Perceived safety control did not mediate the leader behavior–safety motivation relationship for any of the five leader behaviors. The findings of this study expand our understanding of the different processes through which active and passive/avoidant leader behaviors impact safety motivation, as well as provide directions for leadership development and occupational safety interventions. This is the first study to explore the impact of a range of active and passive/avoidant safety-specific leader behaviors on safety motivation through attitudes, norms, and perceived control toward safety behaviors.