Adaptive Expertise: A study on the influence of self-determination and transformational leadership

Abstract This study aimed to analyze the role of transformational leadership in adaptive expertise and test the mediating role of self-determination in this relationship by satisfying the psychological needs of autonomy, belonging, competence and achievement. The survey was conducted with 383 Brazilian workers. The collected data were analyzed through confirmatory factorial analysis (CFA) and multiple regressions. The results of the analyses made it possible to highlight the positive relationship between transformational leadership, adaptive expertise, and self-determination. Quadruple mediation analysis was performed to evidence the effect of self-determination on the relationship between transformational leadership and adaptive expertise. The results confirm the effect of the transformational leader on competence and the mediating effect of self-determination in this relationship. This research advances in the job demands-resources (JD-R), confirming the importance of the worker's resources and personal resources.