This study aimed to explore the mediating role of transformational leadership in the relationship between workplace cynicism and organizational conflict among employees in the banking sector in Qalqilya Governorate. The researcher employed the descriptive-analytical approach. The study population consisted of 74 employees, while the sample comprised 67 employees (90%) in banks operating in Qalqilya Governorate. The key findings were: bank management applies transformational leadership to employees at a high level; respondents’ ratings of organizational conflict were moderate; workplace cynicism was low. Transformational leadership mediated the relationship between workplace conflict and cynicism. The relationship between transformational leadership and workplace conflict was inverse—greater transformational leadership reduced conflict among employees. Conversely, the relationship between cynicism and workplace conflict was direct—higher cynicism increased workplace conflict. The study offered recommendations, most importantly: strengthen transformational leadership practice in banks; leverage positive conflict among employees; and remove obstacles, irritants, and frictions that may distract employees from work so they do not become sources of mockery or cynicism.
The human element is a primary productive factor in organizations. Transformational leadership plays a crucial role in motivating employees, solving problems creatively, and positively shaping behaviors. Banks seek to build, develop, and manage competent human resources to achieve growing objectives in a highly sensitive sector that impacts national economies. Transformational leadership elevates followers professionally and affectively, delegates challenging tasks, builds positive relations, fosters an innovative climate, and raises job satisfaction and performance (Abu Ghaith, 2022). Leadership styles lacking transparency and justice can breed cynicism, absenteeism, low morale, and burnout, leading to organizational cynicism characterized by diminished trust and perceived sacrifice of honesty and ethics (Boufnaz & Bouglita, 2021). Organizational cynicism has negative effects that leaders must mitigate, and transformational leadership can be influential in reducing it (Rihio, 2015). Conflict is inevitable; successful management can turn conflict into productive cooperation. When unmanaged, it escalates into tensions harming performance. Studying the mediating role of transformational leadership between cynicism and conflict can inform practices that improve employee performance and bank profitability in Qalqilya.
Transformational leadership (Burns, 1987) distinguishes leaders who build purposeful, motivating relationships from transactional exchange. It seeks positive change, elevating followers’ motivation and ethics. Definitions emphasize inspiring followers to transcend self-interest for collective goals, communicating a shared vision, and empowering future leaders (Al-Badawi & Al-Asmari, 2024; Al-Bayhani & Balkhair, 2024; Al-Muhasneh & Al-Moumani, 2024). The researcher defines transformational leadership as a leadership style focusing on inspiration and motivation to achieve high-level goals through effective communication, shared vision, and trust-building.
Key functions include crafting vision and mission, sensing need for change, selecting change models, managing complexity, increasing commitment via culture, and formulating strategy (Hussein & Abd, 2023). Transformational leadership inspires, motivates high performance, develops capabilities, involves employees in decisions, encourages innovation, overcomes obstacles, and creates a healthy, values-based environment free from conflict and cynicism.
Organizational conflict arises from opposing opinions, interests, or considerations between parties whose activities intersect (Al-Zeebari, 2020) and manifests as overt struggle when one party’s actions impede another’s outcomes, often due to scarce resources (Al-Hamdi, 2019). Conflict can be negative—hindering decisions—or positive—mobilizing talents toward beneficial outcomes. Dimensions include task conflict (disagreements on goals and solutions), process conflict (how to execute plans and allocate resources), and relationship conflict (interpersonal tension) (Tichtich & Mlin, 2020).
Organizational cynicism is a negative attitude and set of behaviors toward the organization, involving beliefs that it lacks honesty and integrity, emotional responses of frustration and contempt, and critical or mocking behaviors. It harms loyalty, increases turnover and absenteeism, and affects mental and physical health (Simha et al., 2010; Arabaci, 2014; Akdag & Aydin, 2016; Hana, 2020; Abdel-Qawi & Omar, 2022). Dimensions (Kesent & Akyüz, 2015; Ramidi, 2019) are: cognitive cynicism (belief in lack of honesty/justice), emotional cynicism (feelings of anger, frustration), and behavioral cynicism (sarcastic humor, negative commentary, undesirable acts).
Arab studies on transformational leadership report positive effects on strategic planning, institutional performance, and innovation (Daoud, 2024; Belhaj, 2024; Al-Bayhani & Balkhair, 2024; Al-Sharayi et al., 2024). Studies on cynicism show organizational climate and ethical leadership reduce cynicism (Abu Arabi et al., 2024; Mohamed et al., 2023). Studies on conflict management show appropriate strategies improve performance (Al-Shabrawi et al., 2024; Al-Khaldi, 2023; Stephen & Mwaniki, 2021). Few have examined transformational leadership as a mediator between cynicism and conflict, especially in Palestinian banking; this study addresses that gap.
Intense competition among banks drives adoption of modern leadership to motivate staff. Employee frictions can trigger cynicism and conflict, harming performance. The study asks: What is the mediating role of transformational leadership in the relationship between workplace cynicism and organizational conflict among employees in Palestinian banks in Qalqilya?
What is the level of transformational leadership (inspirational motivation, idealized influence, intellectual stimulation) in banks in Qalqilya?
What is the level of workplace cynicism (cognitive, emotional, behavioral) among bank employees?
What is the level of workplace conflict (task, process, relationship) among bank employees?
What is the effect of workplace cynicism on workplace conflict with transformational leadership as a mediating variable?
This is among the first Palestinian studies to test transformational leadership as a mediator between cynicism and conflict in banks. Transformational leadership can reduce cynicism-driven conflict, enhancing trust, cooperation, and service quality—crucial in a competitive, sensitive setting near the Green Line serving clients from 1948 territories.
Assess the extent of transformational leadership practice among bank employees.
Assess the level of workplace cynicism.
Assess the level of workplace conflict.
Examine the effect of workplace cynicism on workplace conflict with transformational leadership as mediator.
Population: employees of banks in Qalqilya. Time: 2024. Variables: independent (workplace cynicism), mediator (transformational leadership), dependent (organizational conflict). Data collection faced delays due to employee workload.
The model comprises independent variable (workplace cynicism: cognitive, emotional, behavioral), dependent variable (organizational conflict: task, process, relationship), and mediating variable (transformational leadership: inspirational motivation, idealized influence, intellectual stimulation).
H1: Workplace cynicism has no statistically significant effect at α ≤ 0.05 on workplace conflict among employees in banks in Qalqilya in the presence of transformational leadership as a mediating variable.
Descriptive-analytical approach; data collected via questionnaire; analyzed with SPSS.
Population: 74 employees in banks in Qalqilya (May 2024). Census sampling; 74 questionnaires distributed; 67 valid returned (90%).
Questionnaire (Likert 5-point) initially 55 items across 3 domains; after validity review, 48 items remained.
Face validity by 5 experts; construct validity via Pearson correlations of items with subscale and total scores—all significant at p < 0.05.
Cronbach’s alpha computed:
| # | Domain | Items | Alpha |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Transformational leadership | 15 | 0.965 |
| 2 | Workplace cynicism | 15 | 0.985 |
| 3 | Organizational conflict | 18 | 0.987 |
| Total scale | 48 | 0.972 | |
Descriptive statistics (means, SDs, percentages), Pearson correlations for internal consistency, Cronbach’s alpha for reliability, simple and multiple linear regression to test effects and mediation.
Overall mean = 4.39 (SD = 0.534; 87.8%, very high). Dimension means:
| # | Dimension | Mean | SD | % | Level | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Idealized influence | 4.42 | 0.568 | 88.4 | Very high | 1 |
| 3 | Intellectual stimulation | 4.37 | 0.563 | 87.4 | Very high | 2 |
| 1 | Inspirational motivation | 4.36 | 0.582 | 87.2 | Very high | 3 |
Overall mean = 2.61 (SD = 1.136; 52.2%, moderate). Dimension means:
| # | Dimension | Mean | SD | % | Level | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Emotional cynicism | 2.74 | 1.061 | 54.8 | Moderate | 1 |
| 1 | Cognitive cynicism | 2.65 | 1.280 | 53.0 | Moderate | 2 |
| 3 | Behavioral cynicism | 2.45 | 1.238 | 49.0 | Low | 3 |
Overall mean = 2.56 (SD = 1.05; 51.2%, low). Dimension means:
| # | Dimension | Mean | SD | % | Level | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Process conflict | 2.63 | 1.029 | 52.6 | Moderate | 1 |
| 1 | Task conflict | 2.54 | 1.134 | 50.8 | Low | 2 |
| 3 | Relationship conflict | 2.50 | 1.125 | 50.0 | Low | 3 |
Multiple linear regression tested the effect of workplace cynicism on workplace conflict with transformational leadership as mediator.
| Variables | B | T | p-value | Beta | R | R² | F | F p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Constant | 1.218 | 2.653 | 0.010 | — | 0.933 | 0.870 | 215.031 | 0.001 |
| Workplace cynicism | 0.831 | -2.041 | 0.045 | 0.898 | ||||
| Transformational leadership | -0.190 | 18.984 | 0.001 | -0.097 | — | |||
R = 0.933; R² = 0.870. Cynicism positively predicts conflict; transformational leadership negatively predicts conflict. Both effects are significant (p < 0.05), indicating full mediation: the effect of cynicism on conflict is larger when including transformational leadership than in the simple model.
Continue applying transformational leadership in banks to enhance motivation and service quality.
Ensure fair treatment and trust-building to reduce conflicts and increase cooperation and loyalty.
Strengthen transformational leadership to curb workplace conflict, enabling focus, innovation, and creativity.
Remove obstacles and frictions that distract employees and may trigger mockery or cynicism.
Reassure employees and address causes of cynicism to improve morale and reduce frustration.
Leverage positive conflict to foster healthy competition, while enacting policies to limit negative conflict.