Original Research

Leadership style and its relation to employee attitudes and behaviour

Cheryl Mester, Deléne Visser, Gert Roodt, Rita Kellerman
SA Journal of Industrial Psychology | Vol 29, No 2 | a100 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/sajip.v29i2.100 | © 2003 Copyright Status: Not provided. Contact Holding Institution to verify copyright status. Rights Holder: University of Johannesburg
Submitted: 24 October 2003 | Published: 24 October 2003

About the author(s)

Cheryl Mester, Rand Afrikaans University, South Africa
Deléne Visser, Rand Afrikaans University, South Africa
Gert Roodt, Rand Afrikaans University, South Africa
Rita Kellerman, RSM, Erasmus University, Netherlands

Full Text:

PDF (175KB)

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationships between leadership style and organisational commitment, job satisfaction, job involvement and organisational citizenship behaviour and whether these relationships were stronger for transformational than for transactional leaders. A sample of 52 leaders and 276 raters from a world class engineering company participated. The results of a canonical correlation analysis using the rater data indicated that the most prominent relationship was that between transactional leadership and affective commitment. Furthermore, transformational and transactional leadership did not correlate significantly with the constructs of job involvement and job satisfaction.

Opsomming
Die doel van die ondersoek was om te bepaal wat die verbande tussen leierskapstyl en organisasieverbondenheid, werkstevredenheid, werkbetrokkenheid en organisatoriese burgerskapsgedrag is en of hierdie verbande sterker is vir transformasionele as vir transaksionele leiers. ’n Steekproef van 52 leiers en 276 beoordelaars van ’n wêreldklas ingenieursfirma het deelgeneem. Die resultate van ’n kanoniese korrelasie-ontleding van die beoordelaardata het getoon dat die prominentste verband dié tussen transaksionele leierskap en affektiewe verbondenheid is. Verder het transformasionele en transaksionele leierskap nie beduidend met die konstrukte werkbetrokkenheid en werkstevredenheid gekorreleer nie.


Keywords

Leadership style; Employee attitudes; Employee behaviour

Metrics

Total abstract views: 10251
Total article views: 90201

 

Crossref Citations

1. The Curse to Project Innovation: Role of Passive Leadership
Namra Mubarak, Babatunde Abiodun Salami, Shaista Noor
IEEE Engineering Management Review  vol: 54  issue: 4  first page: 53  year: 2026  
doi: 10.1109/EMR.2025.3633929

2. Academic leadership: exploring the experiences of department heads in a first generation university in Ethiopia
Feyera Dinsa Hundessa
International Journal of Leadership in Education  vol: 24  issue: 2  first page: 183  year: 2021  
doi: 10.1080/13603124.2018.1545922

3. The impact of leadership style on employment in the context of an emerging economy
Viwe Mrwebi
Corporate Governance and Organizational Behavior Review  vol: 3  issue: 1  first page: 19  year: 2019  
doi: 10.22495/cgobr_v3_i1_p2

4. Leadership Styles of Principals and Job Satisfaction: An Empirical Study in Colleges of Education in Ghana
Ernest Amoah Nyarne, Daniel Ampem Darko-Asumadu, Albert Annang
African Journal of Empirical Research  vol: 5  issue: 3  first page: 1001  year: 2024  
doi: 10.51867/ajernet.5.3.85

5. A vezetés szerepe a dolgozói elégedettség alakulásában
Ferenc Nemes, Ágnes Szlávicz
Vezetéstudomány / Budapest Management Review  first page: 2  year: 2011  
doi: 10.14267/VEZTUD.2011.09.01

6. Kuşak Farklılıkları Bağlamında İş Tatmini ve İşe Adanmışlık İlişkisi: Otel Çalışanları Üzerine Ampirik Bir Araştırma
Ayşe Rumeysa Sönmez, Engin Üngüren
Alanya Akademik Bakış  vol: 10  issue: 1  first page: 196  year: 2026  
doi: 10.29023/alanyaakademik.1684747

7. Organisational climate, job satisfaction, and leadership style influences on organisational commitment among South African soldiers
Thulile N. Makhathini, Gideon A.J. Van Dyk
Journal of Psychology in Africa  vol: 28  issue: 1  first page: 21  year: 2018  
doi: 10.1080/14330237.2018.1438834

8. Two of a kind? A canonical correlational study of transformational leadership and authentic leadership
Baek-Kyoo (Brian) Joo, Kim Nimon
European Journal of Training and Development  vol: 38  issue: 6  first page: 570  year: 2014  
doi: 10.1108/EJTD-12-2013-0129

9. The effects of core self‐evaluations and transformational leadership on organizational commitment
Baek‐Kyoo (Brian) Joo, Hea Jun Yoon, Chang‐Wook Jeung
Leadership & Organization Development Journal  vol: 33  issue: 6  first page: 564  year: 2012  
doi: 10.1108/01437731211253028

10. Leadership Effectiveness Among Healthcare Managers in Kazakhstan: A Cross-Sectional Study
Samrat Abenov, Aruzhan Montayeva, Anargul Kuntuganova, Jeff Glenn, Kuanysh A. Yergaliyev
Epidemiology and Health Data Insights  vol: 2  issue: 4  first page: ehdi042  year: 2026  
doi: 10.63946/ehdi/18551

11. Transformation leadership style and employee job satisfaction in county government of Kakamega, Kenya
Brenda Lumbasi Barasa, Anne Kariuki
International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147- 4478)  vol: 9  issue: 5  first page: 100  year: 2020  
doi: 10.20525/ijrbs.v9i5.821

12. Influence of leadership style on job satisfaction of NGO employee: The mediating role of psychological empowerment
Mishal Mufti, Peng Xiaobao, Syed Jamal Shah, Asma Sarwar, Yuan Zhenqing
Journal of Public Affairs  vol: 20  issue: 1  year: 2020  
doi: 10.1002/pa.1983

13. Moderating role of leadership on factors influencing tax administration efficiency
Abobakr Al-Harethi, Saliza Abdul Aziz, Idawati Ibrahim
Problems and Perspectives in Management  vol: 20  issue: 2  first page: 389  year: 2022  
doi: 10.21511/ppm.20(2).2022.32

14. Engineering careers to enhance organizational commitment among employees in the IT industry
Arjun Ananthanarayanan, R G Priyadarshini
IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering  vol: 390  first page: 012015  year: 2018  
doi: 10.1088/1757-899X/390/1/012015

15. Intention to quit amongst Generation Y academics in higher education
Anecia Robyn, Ronel Du Preez
SA Journal of Industrial Psychology  vol: 39  issue: 1  year: 2013  
doi: 10.4102/sajip.v39i1.1106

16. Leadership style and job satisfaction: A developing economy perspective
Jeevarathnam Parthasarathy Govender, Hari Lall Garbharran, Roland Loganathan
Corporate Ownership and Control  vol: 10  issue: 4  first page: 390  year: 2013  
doi: 10.22495/cocv10i4c4art2

17. Leadership styles in ethical dilemmas when head nurses make decisions
V. Zydziunaite, D. Lepaite, T. Suominen
International Nursing Review  vol: 60  issue: 2  first page: 228  year: 2013  
doi: 10.1111/inr.12018

18. Turizm Alanında Yayınlanmış İş Tatmini Üzerine Tezlerin Bibliyometrik Analizi
Mert Ünal
Journal of Tourism Intelligence and Smartness  vol: 7  issue: 1  first page: 18  year: 2024  
doi: 10.58636/jtis.1443399