Transformational leadership and followers' attitudes: the mediating role of psychological empowerment

Abstract

There is now strong evidence that transformational leadership substantially influences the work attitudes and behaviours of followers. However, the mechanisms by which transformational leaders influence their followers have not been studied in a systematic fashion. The purpose of the present study is, therefore, to analyse how transformational leadership promotes: i) job satisfaction among employees; and ii) affective commitment to the organization. In particular, the possible mediating role of psychological empowerment in these two relationships is conceptually hypothesised and empirically tested. The results demonstrate that psychological empowerment mediates the relationship between transformational leadership and employee attitudes.

Keywords:

• attitudes
• behaviours
• empowerment
• followers
• transformational leadership

Notes

1. Marsh and Hocevar (1985) developed the target coefficient (T) as a measure of how effectively higher order factors explain the overall measurement model. The target coefficient is the ratio of the chi square of the first-order model to the chi-square of the more restrictive higher-order model. A target coefficient of one means that the covariation among the first order factors is completely accounted for by a more restrictive model.