Does social media usage evoke employees' spirituality? A cross-level moderation model of inclusive leadership

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of social media usage (SMU) and relational energy on employees' workplace spirituality within an organization from a psychological perspective. Design/methodology/approach This study proposes a research model based on self-determination theory. This research model was tested using a cross-level hierarchical regression analysis. Data were collected from 276 knowledge workers on 39 teams in 37 enterprises in China. Findings SMU has a significant positive impact on employees' relational energy and workplace spirituality. Relational energy partially mediates the relationships of cognitive usage and social usage of social media with workplace spirituality and fully mediates the relationship between hedonic usage of social media and workplace spirituality. Inclusive leadership positively affects workplace spirituality and acts as a negative cross-level moderating variable on the relationship between hedonic usage and workplace spirituality. Practical implications This work suggested that with appropriate SMU implications, enterprises might be able to integrate spirituality into human resource management practices to improve employees' meaningful life experiences within organizations. Originality/value The authors’ findings not only help to theoretically clarify the relationship between SMU and workplace spirituality but also enrich the relevant research on SMU in enterprises to improve employees' spiritual life within the organization.