Family Leadership Styles and Family Well-Being

Transformational leadership has been associated with optimal outcomes in various organizational settings, in comparison to transactional and laissez-faire leadership. In accordance with research findings from organizational contexts, an exploratory study was conducted with 231 two-parent families to assess the relationship between family leadership styles and family well-being. Family leadership styles were assessed using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, and family well-being was assessed using the Family Profile. Using cluster analysis, four combinations of father-mother leadership styles emerged. From analysis of variance, significant differences in family wellbeing were found when comparing couples characterized by active transformational leadership to those who were passive or had a laissez-faire style of leadership. Few other statistically significant differences were found when comparing other combinations of leadership styles.