The CEO autonomy–stewardship behavior relationship in family firms: The mediating role of psychological ownership

• This study investigates the relationship between CEO autonomy and stewardship behavior in family firms.
• We propose that the autonomy–stewardship relationship is mediated by psychological ownership.
• We differentiate between individual-oriented and collective-oriented psychological ownership.
• Results show that CEO autonomy is an important determinant of stewardship behavior.
• This relationship is only mediated by individual-oriented psychological ownership.

This study investigates the relationship between a family business CEO's autonomy and stewardship behavior. Building on psychological ownership theory, we argue that psychological ownership mediates the autonomy–stewardship relationship. In contrast to prior studies, we differentiate between individual-oriented and collective-oriented psychological ownership as two distinct dimensions of individual psychological ownership. Our results reveal that CEO autonomy is an important determinant of stewardship behavior and that this relationship is only mediated by individual-oriented psychological ownership. Moreover, both individual-oriented and collective-oriented psychological ownership are found to be antecedents of CEO stewardship behavior.