Transformational Leadership and Job Satisfaction: Assessing the Influence of Organizational Contextual Factors and Individual Characteristics.

AutorAbelha, Daniel Martins
CargoTexto en ingl

1 Introduction

Leadership is considered to be essential for motivating organization members and mobilizing resources to fulfill company objectives. As such, the study of leadership remains a central theme in the organizational field (Day & Antonakis, 2012; Antonakis & House, 2014). Particularly, transformational leaders are considered to have a strong influence on the attitudes and behaviors of employees. These kinds of leaders are admirable, visionary, attentive to their subordinates, and encourage those subordinates to achieve extraordinary goals (Avolio & Bass, 2004). Despite this, the results of recent studies on transformational leadership have disputed its efficacy. For instance, Gilmore et al. (2013) verified that transformational leaders do not exert any significant influence on already positive, motivated employees. This observation suggests that the impact of transformational leadership can be stronger or weaker depending on aspects associated with subordinate characteristics and organizational contexts. (Avolio, Walumbwa, & Weber, 2009; Zhu, Avolio, & Walumbwa, 2009). Given the importance of the transformational perspective to leadership studies (Knippenberg & Sitkin, 2013), and its widespread utilization as a basis in development programs, better understanding the effectiveness of the transformational perspective and the factors that condition its results is relevant from both a theoretical and a practical perspective.

This study examines whether the subordinate's gender, area of professional training (technological or non-technological), and the type of company in which they operate (public or private) condition the effects of transformational leadership. Our intention is to contribute to research on organizational contextual factors and individual characteristics that condition the influence of transformational leaders in the work environment, and to expand the field research on this perspective in Brazil (Neto et al., 2012, Cavazotte, Moreno, & Bernardo, 2013). The study analyzes these factors and their interactions, focusing on job satisfaction, one of the most relevant attitudes for the performance and well-being of individuals in the organizational setting (Barling, Kelloway, & Iverson, 2003; Jackson, Alberti, & Snipes, 2014). Despite there being important references on this subject, few studies focus on the factors that condition the effectiveness of transformational leadership, especially within Brazilian organizations.

Our study was conducted during November and December 2015, with professionals who work in organizations located in Rio de Janeiro, covering public and private institutions in the electric, oil and gas, engineering, IT, financial, legal, communication, health, and education sectors. In view of the observations made by Gilmore et al. (2013), the analysis uses the participants' affective state as a control variable. In addition to learning more about transformational leadership in the Brazilian context, this study's results also contribute to informing training and leadership development initiatives in organizations, by identifying the conditions that make these investments more necessary and that allow their impact on the organizational environment to be capitalized.

We begin with the theoretical framework that supports the formulated hypotheses, highlighting the most important research in the literature on transformational leadership. In the following section, we describe the methodological procedures used to conduct the study. The results of the statistical tests which were used to verify the hypothesis of the study are presented in the analysis section. At the end of the article, the results are discussed, including suggestions for new research paths to better understand the effects of factors associated with the organizational context and individual characteristics on leadership.

2 Theoretical Framework

2.1 Charismatic, Transformational, and Transactional Leadership

In the 1980s, new approaches emerged in leadership studies, which proved to be innovative in comparison to those that previously existed. The perspectives of charismatic, transformational, and transactional leadership reached notoriety in the field, dominating numerous pages in the most prestigious journals (Antonakis, 2012). Several authors collaborated to develop these concepts, culminating with Bass's leadership model, the most widely used framework to evaluate elements present in transformational and transactional leadership (Avolio, Bass, & Jung, 1999).

When attempting to understand transformational leadership theory it is necessary to consider the concept known as charisma, an attribute considered essential to these leaders. (Antonakis, 2012). Charisma has been studied since ancient times by minds such as Aristoteles, who in his book "Rhetoric" argues that every charismatic leader is a wielder of characteristics that differentiate them from others. One of these is the capacity to conquer their listeners through a passionate speech filled with symbolism and emotional connotations guided by the moral orientation of their subordinates. Weber presented one of the best-known definitions of charisma, and describes the charismatic leader as a being endowed with a special personality, which confers to the individual rare, superhuman powers and an enthusiastic personality (Weber, 1968).

Burns (1978) argues that these leaders should be guided by ethical principles in their work environment, and that charisma emerges to aid them in getting their subordinates inspired to achieve collective objectives (Burns, 1978; Calaca & Vizeu, 2015). However, in the eyes of Vieira and Lacerda (2010), charisma is an instrument for leaders who wish to dominate organizational territories. These individuals use their interpersonal abilities and charisma to manipulate and achieve their goals in relationships.

In defining transformational and transactional relationships, concepts that contributed considerably to the construction of the Bass model, Burns (1978) defines the former as relationships in which leader and followers share values and principles, and in which the leader guides his/her followers towards a common purpose that unites them and that meets the needs of both parties, thus providing a professional environment marked by mutual satisfaction and collaboration. On the other hand, transactional relations are characterized by superficial ties, based on interest exchanges and the pursuit of personal goals, similar to a contractual relationship between leaders and subordinates, and that are based on material and social contingent rewards. Thus, transactional leaders focus on guiding their followers toward organizational objectives, while transformational leaders assume a responsibility that goes beyond the transactional approach, deeply inspiring their followers to transcend their own interests for the general benefits pursued by the group (Burns, 1978).

The Bass leadership model, widely discussed in applied social research, led to the development of the MLQ (Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire), which assesses the presence of behaviors associated with transformational and transactional leadership (Avolio & Bass, 2004). Transformational leadership was structured in four dimensions, the first being idealized influence, which embodies the emotional component of this framework. It describes leaders who are models to their followers, who identify with them and seek to replicate their behavior. This dimension is further split into two categories: attributed idealized influence, which corresponds to the attributions of such characteristics in a leader made by his or her followers; and behavioral idealized influence, which refers to the observation of such characteristics in a leader by his or her followers. The second dimension, inspirational motivation, corresponds to the leader's ability to communicate a high degree of expectations, inspiring followers to share the vision and internalize a sense of mission with regard to those purposes. The third dimension, intellectual stimulation, seeks to instigate creativity and innovation, thoughtfulness directed toward one's own values, and the solution of day to day challenges. Lastly, individualized consideration is the ability to offer personalized attention to his or her followers, advising and providing support when necessary (Avolio & Bass, 2004).

The transactional components are grouped into three categories: contingency rewards, which entail acknowledging subordinates by way of material and psychological gifts when they meet goals and exceed expectations in their professional roles; management by exception, which is characterized by more active intervention by the leader on some occasions, versus less active intervention on others, in order to prevent possible behavioral deviations from norms of conduct; and laissez-faire leadership, which is considered to be more passive than the other two, and in which the leader relinquishes decision making and the exercise of authority over his or her followers (Avolio & Bass, 2004).

3.3 Effects of leadership on job satisfaction: Contextual factors

Job satisfaction is one of the most analyzed attitudes in the organizational behavior field and is defined as the degree to which the individual positively evaluates his or her job experiences (Yang, 2016). It is considered to be a particularly important factor because, when missing, it is associated with undesired outcomes in the work environment, such as voluntary turnover, absenteeism, and occupational illness. When present, job satisfaction is associated with positive outcomes such as organizational citizenship, affective commitment, effective performance, professional fulfillment, and general life satisfaction (Barling, Kelloway, & Iverson, 2003; Jackson, Alberti, & Snipes, 2014).

Job satisfaction is a multidimensional construct (Spector, 2002) which reflects worker attitudes in...

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