Testing a Moderated Mediation Model of Transformational Leadership, Values, and Organization Change

A field study of organizational leaders and their immediate followers was conducted to investigate (a) the mediating roles of follower openness to change values and follower self-transcendence values in linking transformational leadership to follower change resistance and follower extra effort, respectively and (b) the moderating role of organization change magnitude in influencing the mediation effects. Transformational leadership theory postulates that a range of follower attitudinal and performance outcomes are at least partially explained by a leader's ability to influence followers' values to support organizational change. Using Preacher, Rucker, and Hayes's moderated mediation framework, this study extends transformational leadership research by testing a model that explicates the roles of leader behavior, follower values, and a key contextual variable in producing effects on follower attitudinal and performance outcomes. Data from 181 organizational leaders and 723 of their respective followers demonstrated strong support for the moderated mediation model. The conditional indirect effects of transformational leadership on follower change resistance and follower extra effort via follower openness to change and self-transcendence values, respectively, were stronger in work contexts characterized by high organization change magnitude. Implications for theory, future research, and practice are discussed.