Effects of Positive Leadership on Intrinsic Motivation of Inter-professional Collaboration among Medical Staff : A Moderated Effect of Culture

Abstract Background Inter-professional collaboration (IPC) is critical to address the issues of fragmented healthcare; however, intrinsic motivation of IPC among medical staff is at a low level. Positive leadership is supposed to have an inference on the intrinsic motivation of IPC; however, the mechanism is not clear at present. Methods this study explored the effect of positive leadership on intrinsic motivation of IPC of medical staff, as well as the moderating role of culture, from 1324 valid questionnaires of medical staff in China, with SEM, hierarchical linear regression, simple slope test. Results The SEM results indicated that positive leadership had a direct effect on self-efficacy and a mediating effect on self-efficacy via career identity and achievement motivation. The hierarchical linear regression analysis showed that the interactive items of positive leadership and culture had a positive effect on career identity (β = 0.089), indicating that culture has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between positive leadership and career identity. The simple slope test indicated that in the hospitals, positive leadership had a significant effect on career identity for both the high level of culture group (β = 0.382) and the low level of culture group (β = 0.297). Conclusion These findings suggest that the positive leadership promotes the intrinsic motivation of IPC, while culture plays a moderating role in the relationship between positive leadership and career identity.