Identifying Manager's Mental Patterns in Relation to Psychological Empowerment of Employees, Using the Q-method

The present study is a qualitative research which used the Q approach to examine and explain managers’ mental patterns regarding psychological empowerment of employees. Q-method is applied to identify subjective thinking, opinions, attitudes and beliefs of people about the phenomenon under examination. To collect data, deep interviews were administered, whose validity and reliability were confirmed, respectively by CVR approach and Kapa Kohn method. In addition, purposive sampling technique was used; as a result, 19 interviews were obtained. The results indicate that managers’ six main mind-sets relevant to employee empowerment are as follows: inspiring capacity-building, stimulating thinking, creating motivation, promoting ethical climate, advocating competency, and enhancing interpersonal trust. As an example, stimulating thinking is the dominant model of managers’ mind-set that develops psychological empowerment in their employees by creating questioning capabilities, creating passion for thinking, and positive thinking.