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The Appeal of Transformational Leadership
Author(s) -
Hansbrough Tiffany Keller,
Schyns Birgit
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of leadership studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.219
H-Index - 14
eISSN - 1935-262X
pISSN - 1935-2611
DOI - 10.1002/jls.21571
Subject(s) - transformational leadership , appeal , conscientiousness , psychology , transactional leadership , leadership style , social psychology , cross cultural leadership , shared leadership , personality , political science , servant leadership , big five personality traits , neuroleadership , law , extraversion and introversion
Although transformational leadership has been described as an ideal leadership style, there have been recent calls for research to examine why the concept of transformational leadership appeals to some individuals but not to others. Accordingly, three empirical studies were conducted to investigate the impact of personality and implicit leadership theories on the appeal of transformational leadership. The results indicate that conscientiousness strongly impacts the appeal of transformational leadership. Furthermore, the implicit leadership theory dimension of dedication mediates the relationship between conscientiousness and the appeal of transformational leadership. These findings thus question the universal appeal of transformational leadership as well as provide an explanatory mechanism regarding the differential appeal of transformational leadership.