Five-factor model of personality and transformational leadership.

This study linked traits from the 5-factor model of personality (the Big 5) to transformational leadership behavior. Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, and Agreeableness were hypothesized to predict transformational leadership. Results based on 14 samples of leaders from over 200 organizations revealed that Extraversion and Agreeableness positively predicted transformational leadership; Openness to Experience was positively correlated with transformational leadership, but its effect disappeared once the influence of the other traits was controlled. Neuroticism and Conscientiousness were unrelated to transformational leadership. Results further indicated that specific facets of the Big 5 traits predicted transformational leadership less well than the general constructs. Finally, transformational leadership behavior predicted a number of outcomes reflecting leader effectiveness, controlling for the effect of transactional leadership. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transformational and Transactional Leadership: A Meta-Analytic Test of Their Relative Validity.

This study provided a comprehensive examination of the full range of transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership. Results (based on 626 correlations from 87 sources) revealed an overall validity of .44 for transformational leadership, and this validity generalized over longitudinal and multisource designs. Contingent reward (.39) and laissez-faire (-.37) leadership had the next highest overall relations; management by exception (active and passive) was inconsistently related to the criteria. Surprisingly, there were several criteria for which contingent reward leadership had stronger relations than did transformational leadership. Furthermore, transformational leadership was strongly correlated with contingent reward (.80) and laissez-faire (-.65) leadership. Transformational and contingent reward leadership generally predicted criteria controlling for the other leadership dimensions, although transformational leadership failed to predict leader job performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transformational leadership and moral reasoning.

Terms such as moral and ethical leadership are used widely in theory, yet little systematic research has related a sociomoral dimension to leadership in organizations. This study investigated whether managers' moral reasoning (n=132) was associated with the transformational and transactional leadership behaviors they exhibited as perceived by their subordinates (n=407). Managers completed the Defining Issues Test (J. R. Rest, 1990), whereas their subordinates completed the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (B. M. Bass & B. J. Avolio, 1995). Analysis of covariance indicated that managers scoring in the highest group of the moral-reasoning distribution exhibited more transformational leadership behaviors than leaders scoring in the lowest group. As expected, there was no relationship between moral-reasoning group and transactional leadership behaviors. Implications for leadership development are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transformational Leadership: Relations to the Five-Factor Model and Team Performance in Typical and Maximum Contexts.

This study examined the 5-factor model of personality, transformational leadership, and team performance under conditions similar to typical and maximum performance contexts. Data were collected from 39 combat teams from an Asian military sample (N = 276). Results found that neuroticism and agreeableness were negatively related to transformational leadership ratings. Team performance ratings correlated at only .18 across the typical and maximum contexts. Furthermore, transformational leadership related more strongly to team performance in the maximum rather than the typical context. Finally, transformational leadership fully mediated the relationship between leader personality and team performance in the maximum context but only partially mediated the relationship between leader personality and team performance in the typical context. The Discussion section focuses on how these findings, although interesting, need to be replicated with different designs, contexts, and measures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality and Transformational and Transactional Leadership: A Meta-Analysis.

This study was a meta-analysis of the relationship between personality and ratings of transformational and transactional leadership behaviors. Using the 5-factor model of personality as an organizing framework, the authors accumulated 384 correlations from 26 independent studies. Personality traits were related to 3 dimensions of transformational leadership--idealized influence-inspirational motivation (charisma), intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration--and 3 dimensions of transactional leadership--contingent reward, management by exception-active, and passive leadership. Extraversion was the strongest and most consistent correlate of transformational leadership. Although results provided some support for the dispositional basis of transformational leadership--especially with respect to the charisma dimension--generally, weak associations suggested the importance of future research to focus on both narrower personality traits and nondispositional determinants of transformational and transactional leadership. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relation between leadership style and empowerment on job satisfaction of nurses

OBJECTIVE: The authors explore the relation between leadership style and empowerment and its effect on job satisfaction among the nursing staff of a regional medical center. BACKGROUND: Several empirical studies on transformational leadership-found that transformational leadership behaviors were positively related to work team success and leadership effectiveness. Transformational leadership processes have also been suggested to enhance followers' work-oriented values and shape the self-efficacies of followers. Employee empowerment may be influenced by the perception that the organization cares about its employees' well-being and that their work is valued. Empowering nurses may increase job satisfaction and improve patient care. Leadership style and empowerment influence job satisfaction among workers. METHODS: All nursing department staff were invited to complete a self-report questionnaire with no identifying information. Leadership style was measured using Bass's Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, empowerment was measured with items from Spreitzer's Psychological Empowerment instrument, and job satisfaction was measured by Warr, Cook, and Wall's job satisfaction questionnaire. RESULTS: Both transformational and transactional leadership were positively related to job satisfaction, as was empowerment. Differences in the contributions of empowerment and leadership style in predicting job satisfaction for licensed and unlicensed workers was evident. CONCLUSION: Designing interventions that allow for the relative influence of leadership style as well as empowerment on varying classifications of nursing personnel may be a more effective strategy and have a greater effect on staff attitudes and behaviors.     

Development and test of a model linking safety-specific transformational leadership and occupational safety.

The authors developed, tested, and replicated a model in which safety-specific transformational leadership predicted occupational injuries in 2 separate studies. Data from 174 restaurant workers (M age=26.75 years, range=15-64) were analyzed using structural equation modeling (LISREL 8; K. G. J?reskog & D. S?rbom, 1993) and provided strong support for a model whereby safety-specific transformational leadership predicted occupational injuries through the effects of perceived safety climate, safety consciousness, and safety-related events. Study 2 replicated and extended this model with data from 164 young workers from diverse jobs (M age=19.54 years, range=14-24). Safety-specific transformational leadership and role overload were related to occupational injuries through the effects of perceived safety climate, safety consciousness, and safety-related events. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Leadership and followership: Same animal, different spots?

This study examined the relationship between the constructs of leadership, as operationalized through the Leadership Personality Survey (LPS), and followership, as operationalized by the Power of followership Survey (PFS). The LPS is based on the 5-factor model of personality that is widely regarded as the premier model for understanding trait personality dimensions. The PFS is based on R. E. Kelley's (1992) model of followership styles. Data were collected from 130 students at a military college as part of their involvement in an academic course on leadership. Correlational analyses revealed numerous significant positive relationships between these 2 con- structs. Regression modeling provided insight into the relations of personality dimensions and followership. Limitations to this study and implications of these findings as well as future research directions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction to special issue on defining and measuring character in leadership.

This article introduces the background and need for this special issue of the Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research on “Defining and Measuring Character in Leadership.” The introduction reviews some of the history of the concept of character in leadership, presents the major themes of the special issue, and briefly describes the 6 papers related to 3 models of character in leadership (ethical/virtuous leadership, authentic transformational leadership, and worthy leadership) and the specific elements of integrity, ethics, virtues, and moral potency. The introduction notes that each article in the special issue indicates how character in leadership can be defined, operationalized, and assessed. The implications of each model for the practice of consulting psychology are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What is the character of research on leadership character?

This article examines the theories and research on character and leadership by the authors in the Special Issue on “Defining and Measuring Character in Leadership” (Thompson & Riggio, 2010). It explores the variety of definitions and frameworks and identifies similarities across them. We note that the dominant foundations of the frameworks are transformational leadership and positive psychology. This raises concerns that the models may be too narrowly constructed. On the other hand, important insights are offered in the special issue on the measurement of character in leadership. In addition, the articles offer some tentative interventions for promoting leadership character among managers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality and leadership: A qualitative and quantitative review.

This article provides a qualitative review of the trait perspective in leadership research, followed by a meta-analysis. The authors used the 5-factor model as an organizing framework and meta-analyzed 222 correlations from 73 samples. Overall, the correlations with leadership were Neuroticism=-.24, Extraversion=.31, Openness to Experience=.24, Agreeableness=.08, and Conscientiousness=.28. Results indicated that the relations of Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, and Conscientiousness with leadership generalized in that more than 90% of the individual correlations were greater than 0. Extraversion was the most consistent correlate of leadership across study settings and leadership criteria (leader emergence and leadership effectiveness). Overall, the 5-factor model had a multiple correlation of .48 with leadership, indicating strong support for the leader trait perspective when traits are organized according to the 5-factor model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transformational leadership, initiating structure, and substitutes for leadership: A longitudinal study of research and development project team performance.

Transformational leadership, initiating structure, and selected substitutes for leadership were studied as longitudinal predictors of performance in 118 research and development (R&D) project teams from 5 firms. As hypothesized, transformational leadership predicted 1-year-later technical quality, schedule performance, and cost performance and 5-year-later profitability and speed to market. Initiating structure predicted all the performance measures. The substitutes of subordinate ability and an intrinsically satisfying task each predicted technical quality and profitability, and ability predicted speed to market. Moderator effects for type of R&D work were hypothesized and found whereby transformational leadership was a stronger predictor of technical quality in research projects, whereas initiating structure was a stronger predictor of technical quality in development projects. Implications for leadership theory and research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Virtue-based measurement of ethical leadership: The Leadership Virtues Questionnaire.

Approaching ethical leadership from a characterological perspective, this study reports on the creation of the Leadership Virtues Questionnaire (LVQ). Defining an ethical leader as one who adheres to the four cardinal virtues of prudence, fortitude, temperance, and justice, as discussed in the ancient texts of Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas, we developed a rating instrument for assessing leader virtues. A series of studies with managers examined the psychometric properties and correlates of the LVQ. Factor analyses suggested that one factor best captured the construct, not inconsistent with philosophers' notions of the “unity” of the cardinal virtues. The LVQ was shown to be highly positively correlated with transformational leadership, authentic leadership, and another recently developed measure of ethical leadership, and there was evidence of discriminant validity. The LVQ, used with the virtues approach to ethical leadership, should prove to be a valuable tool for the assessment and development of leader virtues and ethics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Models of behavior disorder: A formal analysis based on Woods's Taxonomy of Instrumental Conditioning": Erratum to Tryon.

Reports 2 errors in the original article by W. W. Tryon (American Psychologist, 1976, Vol 7 509–518). On page 512 the left-hand measure, line 11 "first row" should read "first column." On page 514, instead of "Signaled Contingent Reward Conditioning," the 2nd heading should read "Signaled Noncontingent Reward Conditioning." (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in PA, Vol 57:4654.) Discusses the issue of formal analysis of operations in psychology. A total of 120 conditioning paradigms are derived from P. J. Woods's (see record 1975-00351-001) "Taxonomy of Instrumental Conditioning," of which 64 are predicted to produce behavior disorder and 32 are predicted to produce no behavior disorder. The remaining 24 are either redundant or "degenerate" paradigms. Eight paradigms producing behavior disorder are selected for review because they represent simple symmetrical formal relationships and have been more widely investigated. Among the phenomena covered are "superstitious" behavior, learned helplessness, experimental neurosis, anaclitic depression as a result of maternal separation, and physiological disturbances such as ulceration… (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Managing diversity and enhancing team outcomes: The promise of transformational leadership.

In a sample of 62 research and development (R&D) teams, the authors examined transformational leadership as a moderator of the relationship of age, nationality, and educational background diversity with team outcomes. When levels of transformational leadership were high, nationality and educational diversity were positively related to team leaders' longitudinal ratings of team performance. These relationships were nonsignificant when transformational leadership was low. Age diversity was not related to team performance when transformational leadership was high, and it was negatively related to team performance when transformational leadership was low. Two mediated moderation effects help explain these findings. Transformational leadership moderated the relationship of the 3 examined diversity dimensions with the elaboration of task-relevant information, which in turn was positively associated with team performance. Moreover, transformational leadership moderated the relationship of the 3 diversity types with collective team identification, which in turn was positively related to the elaboration of task-relevant information. The authors discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these results. Overall, this study suggests that transformational leadership can foster the utilization of the potential, but frequently untapped, benefits entailed by both demographic and informational/cognitive team diversity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The bright-side and the dark-side of CEO personality: Examining core self-evaluations, narcissism, transformational leadership, and strategic influence.

This article reports on an examination of the relationships between chief executive officer (CEO) personality, transformational and transactional leadership, and multiple strategic outcomes in a sample of 75 CEOs of Major League Baseball organizations over a 100-year period. CEO bright-side personality characteristics (core self-evaluations) were positively related to transformational leadership, whereas dark-side personality characteristics (narcissism) of CEOs were negatively related to contingent reward leadership. In turn, CEO transformational and contingent reward leadership were related to 4 different strategic outcomes, including manager turnover, team winning percentage, fan attendance, and an independent rating of influence. CEO transformational leadership was positively related to ratings of influence, team winning percentage, and fan attendance, whereas contingent reward leadership was negatively related to manager turnover and ratings of influence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Divergent effects of transformational and passive leadership on employee safety.

The authors concurrently examined the impact of safety-specific transformational leadership and safety-specific passive leadership on safety outcomes. First, the authors demonstrated via confirmatory factor analysis that safety-specific transformational leadership and safety-specific passive leadership are empirically distinct constructs. Second, using hierarchical regression, the authors illustrated, contrary to a stated corollary of transformational leadership theory (B. M. Bass, 1997), that passive leadership contributes incrementally to the prediction of organizationally relevant outcomes, in this case safety-related variables, beyond transformational leadership alone. Third, further analyses via structural equation modeling showed that both transformational and passive leadership have opposite effects on safety climate and safety consciousness, and these variables, in turn, predict safety events and injuries. Implications for research and application are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The two faces of transformational leadership: Empowerment and dependency.

Followers' identification with the leader and the organizational unit, dependence on the leader, and empowerment by the leader are often attributed to transformational leadership in organizations. However, these hypothesized outcomes have received very little attention in empirical studies. Using a sample of 888 bank employees working under 76 branch managers, the authors tested the relationships between transformational leadership and these outcomes. They found that transformational leadership was positively related to both followers' dependence and their empowerment and that personal identification mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and followers' dependence on the leader, whereas social identification mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and followers' empowerment. The authors discuss the implications of these findings to both theory and practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Leadership Behavior and Subordinate Well-Being.

The authors used a longitudinal design to investigate the relation between leadership behavior and the well-being of subordinates. Well-being is conceptualized as people's feelings about themselves and the settings in which they live and work. Staff members (N = 562) of 2 Community Trusts participated 4 times in a 14-month period. Five models were formulated to answer 2 questions: What is the most likely direction of the relation between leadership and well-being, and what is the time frame of this relation? The model with the best fit suggested that leadership behavior and subordinate responses are linked in a feedback loop. Leadership behavior at Time 1 influenced leadership behavior at Time 4. Subordinate well-being at Time 2 synchronously influenced leadership behavior at Time 2. Leadership behavior at Time 4 synchronously influenced subordinate well-being at Time 4. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transformational leadership and psychological well-being: The mediating role of meaningful work.

Two studies investigated the relationship between transformational leadership, the meaning that individuals ascribe to their work, and their psychological well-being. In Study 1, the perceptions of meaningful work partially mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and positive affective well-being in a sample of Canadian health care workers (N=319). In Study 2, the meaning that a separate sample of service workers (N=146) ascribed to their work fully mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and psychological well-being, after controlling for humanistic work beliefs. Overall, these results support and add to the range of positive mental health effects associated with transformational leadership and are suggestive of interventions that organizations can make to improve well-being of workers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)