THE EFFECTS OF TRANSFORMATIONAL, TRANSACTIONAL, AND LAISSEZ-FAIRE LEADERSHIP CHARACTERISTICS ON SUBORDINATE INFLUENCING BEHAVIOR

The purpose of this study was to experimentally manipulate the relationship of (a) four transformational leadership characteristics (charisma, inspiration, intellectual stimulation, and individual consideration); (b) two transactional leadership characteristics (contingent reward and management-by-exception); and (c) laissez faire leadership with soft, hard, and rational subordinate influencing behavior. It was predicted that subordinates would most often report using a soft (charisma and inspiration) and rational (individual consideration and intellectual stimulation) approach with transformational leaders, a hard approach with laissez faire leaders, and a rational (contingent reward) as well as hard (management-by-exception) approach with transactional leaders. Four hundred and fifty-one subjects of a graduate and evening undergraduate business school randomly received a scenario depicting a male or female leader exhibiting either one of the four transformational leadership characteristics, one of the two transactional leadership characteristics or laissez faire leadership. The results were generally supportive of the predictions. The findings are discussed in terms of the emotional and metamorphic effects of transformational leadership, the exchange nature of transactional leadership, and the permissiveness of laissez faire leadership. © 1990, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.