Paternalistic Leadership and Subordinates’ Trust in Supervisors: Mediating Effects of Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction

Subordinates’ trust is critical for a supervisor’s exercise of leadership to effectively influence subordinates’ work outcomes. However, the optimal approach for facilitating trust is still under debate, between instrumentality-based and motivation-based perspectives. On the basis of self-determination theory (SDT), the current study explored the direct effects of paternalistic leadership on trust in supervisors (TS) and the mediating role of the satisfaction of subordinates’ basic psychological needs. In a survey of 1,076 teachers in China, we found that paternalistic leadership affected trust directly, and that subordinates’ need for competence, autonomy, and relatedness also mediated the leadership–trust relationship to different degrees. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.