Leadership styles as a factor in work engagement among public servants in the health sector
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33595/2226-1478.17.1428Keywords:
work commitment, leadership, autocratic leadership, democratic leadership, transformational leadership, health sector, public servantsAbstract
Considering the relevance of leadership and work engagement, the objective of this research was to determine the influence of leadership on the work engagement of public health sector employees. A cross-sectional, non-experimental quantitative methodological approach was adopted to understand the relationship between the studied variables. The study participants consisted of 500 employees selected through probabilistic census sampling. The hypotheses proposed in the study were tested by developing a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach. The results show a positive and significant effect of leadership on work engagement (β = 0.15, p < .01). Additionally, a positive effect of transformational leadership on work engagement was observed (β = 0.905, p < .01), while autocratic leadership and democratic leadership showed negative effects on work engagement (β = -0.07, p < .01) and (β = -.15, p < .01), respectively. This research concludes that these findings highlight the importance of employing leadership styles focused on inspiration and professional development to enhance work performance and engagement in this field.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Joel Cruz-Tarrillo, Carmen Hernández-Villoslada, Edgardo Rojas-Sifuentes, Michel Centurión–Quiroz
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