Humble leadership and followership behavior: a dual mediation model of perceived leader warmth and competence

Purpose Drawing on social information processing theory and the warmth-competence framework, this study investigates how humble leadership influences followership behavior, with perceived leader warmth and competence as dual mediators and employee narcissism as a moderator. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 309 employees in China across three waves with one-month intervals. We employed hierarchical regression analysis and bootstrapping methods to test the hypotheses. Findings The results reveal three key findings. First, humble leadership positively influences perceived leader warmth and competence. Second, perceived leader warmth and competence serve as dual mediators in the relationship between humble leadership and followership behavior, with no significant difference in the magnitude of these two indirect effects. Third, employee narcissism negatively moderates the relationships between humble leadership and both perceived leader warmth and competence, thereby attenuating the indirect effects on followership behavior. Originality/value This study advances understanding of humble leadership by examining leader-directed followership behavior, a previously understudied outcome that directly reflects the quality of leader–follower relationships. By integrating social information processing theory with the warmth-competence framework and identifying employee narcissism as a boundary condition, this research contributes to the humble leadership and followership literature.