Transformational leadership and trust in leadership impacts on employee commitment

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the effects of leadership style and trust in leadership on employees’ affective commitment under the epidemic situation. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 580 valid questionnaires were collected online targeting the hospitality and tourism employees working from home during the particular period of the COVID-19 Coronavirus crisis. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data with AMOS software. Findings: The findings indicated that perceived transformational leadership was a positive predictor of trust in leadership and affective commitment. In addition to the positive contribution to commitment, trust in leadership also mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational commitment. Originality/value: The current study contributes to the literature on leadership and organizational commitment. The results of this study may provide a valuable guide to organizations, leaders and young employees.