# Turning benign envy into engagement: the moderating role of inclusive leadership in nursing

## TL;DR

This study shows how nurses' positive envy can boost work engagement when supported by inclusive leadership and learning behaviors.

## Contribution

The study introduces a novel model linking benign envy, inclusive leadership, and work engagement in nursing.

## Key findings

- Benign envy positively predicts nurse work engagement through help-seeking and learning behaviors.
- Inclusive leadership strengthens the positive effects of envy on engagement.
- The model is grounded in COR theory and offers practical implications for healthcare management.

## Abstract

This study examines the constructive role of benign professional envy in predicting nurses’ work engagement, highlighting the sequential mediating effects of help-seeking and learning behaviors, as well as the moderating influence of inclusive leadership.

Data were collected from nurses working in Turkish hospitals using a questionnaire. Using structural equation modelling (SEM), this study tested a moderated sequential mediation model grounded in the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory.

The results revealed that benign professional envy positively and significantly predicted nurse work engagement. Furthermore, help-seeking and learning behaviors sequentially mediate this relationship, indicating that envy motivates nurses to seek advice and engage in active learning, which, in turn, enhances engagement. Importantly, inclusive leadership significantly moderates the indirect effects, such that the positive impact of benign envy on engagement through help-seeking and learning is stronger under conditions of high-inclusiveness leadership.

The findings suggest that healthcare managers and nurse leaders should reframe benign envy as a potential resource, rather than a liability. By fostering inclusive leadership practices and encouraging help-seeking and learning behaviors, hospitals can transform envy into a driver of engagement, ultimately improving nurses’ well-being, reducing turnover, and enhancing patient care outcomes.

This study extends COR theory by demonstrating how benign envy initiates a gain spiral of resources when supported by adaptive behavior and inclusive leadership. It also contributes to the literature on emotions in nursing by clarifying the mechanisms through which envy fosters engagement in high-demand healthcare settings.

This study is among the first to investigate the constructive dynamics of benign envy in the nursing profession, offering a novel model that integrates emotional, behavioral, and leadership perspectives to explain work engagement.

Not applicable.