This study examines how supervisory leadership communication during the COVID-19 pandemic fostered employee trust through the lens of motivating language theory. Drawing insight from self-determination theory, this study also reveals the mediating effects of employees’ psychological need satisfaction for competence and relatedness in this process, which help explain how supervisory leadership communication influences employee trust. Through an online survey of 393 full-time employees from various organizations in the U.S., results showed that supervisory use of meaning-making (0.15), empathetic (0.60), and direction-giving language (0.27) during the pandemic all showed significant positive effects on employee trust toward leadership and the organization directly, and indirectly through satisfying employees’ psychological need for competence and relatedness. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

本研究从激励语言理论的角度研究了 COVID-19 大流行期间的主管领导沟通如何培养员工信任。本研究借鉴自决理论，揭示了员工心理需求满足对胜任能力和相关性的中介作用，有助于解释主管领导沟通如何影响员工信任。通过对美国各个组织的 393 名全职员工进行的在线调查，结果显示，在大流行期间，监督使用意义制造 (0.15)、同理心 (0.60) 和指示性语言 (0.27) 都表现出显着的积极直接影响员工对领导和组织的信任，间接地通过满足员工对能力和相关性的心理需求。讨论了研究结果的理论和实践意义。