Abstract
Hypotheses addressing the relationships between bases of power and transformational and transactional leadership, and propositions concerning the extent to which perceptions of leader power and behavior were shared by a leader's followers, were addressed in this study. Two hundred eighty employees reporting to 118 supervisors in 45 organizations provided data for the investigation. Results provided support for hypothesized relationships between personal power and transformational leadership as well as between positional power and transactional leadership. In addition, ratings of both leader power and leader behavior were found to be individually-based phenomena; that is, followers of a focal leader did not share perceptions about that leader's power or behavior. Implications for managerial practice and future research are discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ansari, M. (1990).Managing people at work: Leadership styles and influence strategies. Beverly Hills: Sage.
Avolio, B., & Bass, B. (1988). Transformational leadership, charisma and beyond. In J. G. Hunt, B. R. Baliga, H. P. Dachler, & C. A. Schriesheim (Eds.),Emerging leadership vistas (pp. 29–50). Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
Avolio, B., & Yammarino, F. (1990). Operationalizing charismatic leadership using a levels of analysis framework.Leadership Quarterly, 1, 3, 193–209.
Avolio, B., Yammarino, F., & Bass, B. (1991). Identifying common methods variance with data collected from a single source: An unresolved sticky issue.Journal of Management, 17, 3, 571–587.
Bass, B. (1985).Leadership and performance beyond expectations. New York: Free Press.
Bass, B. (1990).Bass and Stogdill's handbook of leadership. New York: Free Press.
Bass, B., & Avolio, B. (1990).The multifactor leadership questionnaire. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
Bass, B.M., Waldman, D.A., Avolio, B.J., & Bebb, M. (1987). Transformational leadership and the falling dominoes effect.Group and Organization Studies, 12, 73–87.
Calder, B. (1977). An attribution theory of leadership. In B. Staw and G. Salancik (Eds.),New directions in organizational behavior. Chicago: St. Clair Press.
Conger, J., & Kanungo, R. (1987). Toward a behavioral theory of charismatic leadership in organizational settings.Academy of Management Review, 12, 4, 637–647.
Dahl, R. (1957). The concept of power.Behavioral Science, 2, 201–215.
Dansereau, F., Alutto, J., & Yammarino, F. (1984).Theory testing in organizational behavior: The variant approach. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Dansereau, F., Graen, G., & Haga, W. (1975). A vertical dyad linkage approach to leadership within formal organizations: A longitudinal investigation of the role-making process.Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 13, 45–78.
French, J., & Raven, B. (1959). The bases of social power. In D. Cartwright (Ed.),Studies in social power. Ann Arbor: Institute for Social Research.
Graen, G., & Cashman, J. (1975). A role-making model of leadership in organizations: A developmental approach. In J. G. Hunt & L. L. Larson (Eds.),Leadership frontiers. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press.
Greene, C., & Podsakoff, P. (1981). Effects of withdrawal of a performance-contingent reward on supervisory influence and power.Academy of Management Journal, 24, 527–542.
Hinkin, T., & Schriesheim, C. (1989). Development and application of new scales to measure the French and Raven (1959) bases of social power.Journal of Applied Psychology, 74, 4, 561–567.
Hinkin, T., & Schriesheim, C. (1990). Relationships between subordinate perceptions of supervisor influence tactics and attributed bases of supervisory power.Human Relations, 43, 3, 221–237.
Hollander, E. (1985). Leadership and power. In G. Lindzey & E. Aronson (Eds.),Handbook of social psychology. New York: Random House.
Hollander, E., & Julian, J. (1970). Studies in leader legitimacy, influence, and motivation. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.),Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 5) (pp. 33–69). New York: Academic Press.
House, R. (1977). A 1976 theory of charismatic leadership. In J. G. Hunt and L.L. Larson (Eds.),Leadership: The cutting edge. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.
House, R., Spangler, W., & Woycke, J. (1991). Personality and charisma in the U.S. Presidency: A psychological theory of leader effectiveness.Administrative Science Quarterly, 36, 364–396.
Levinger, G. (1959). The development of perceptions and behavior in newly formed social power relationships. In D. Cartwright (Eds.),Studies in social power (pp. 83–98). University of Michigan, Ann Arbor: Institute for Social Research.
Lord, R. (1977). Functional leadership behavior: Measurement and relation to social power and leadership perceptions.Administrative Science Quarterly, 22, 114–133.
Lord, R., Foti, R., & DeVader, C. (1984). A test of leadership categorization theory: Internal structure, information processing and leadership perception.Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 34, 343–378.
Markham, S. (1988). Pay for performance dilemma revisited: Empirical example of the importance of group effects.Journal of Applied Psychology, 73, 172–180.
Markham, S. & McKee, G. (1991). Declining organization size and increased unemployment rates: Predicting absenteeism from a within and between plant perspective.Academy of Management Journal, 34, 952–965.
Martin, T., & Hunt, J. (1980). Social influence and intent to leave: A path-analytic process model.Personnel Psychology, 33, 505–528.
Palich, L., & Hom, P. (1992). The impact of leader power and behavior on leadership perceptions.Group and Organization Management, 17, 3, 279–296.
Podsakoff, P., & Schriesheim, C. (1985). Field studies of French and Raven's bases of power: Critique, reanalyses and suggestions for future research.Psychological Bulletin, 97, 3, 387–441.
Podsakoff, P., & Organ, D. (1986). Self-reports in organizational research. Problems and prospects.Journal of Management, 12, 531–544.
Sims, H.P. (1977). The leader as manager of reinforcement contingencies: An empirical example and a model. In J.G. Hunt and L.L. Larson (Eds.),Leadership: The cutting edge. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.
Stogdill, R., & Coons, A. (1957).Leader behavior: Its description and measurement. Columbus, OH: Ohio State University.
Szilagyi, A. (1980). Causal inferences between leader reward behavior and subordinate performance, absenteeism, and work satisfaction.Journal of Occupational Psychology, 53, 195–204.
Yammarino, F., & Bass, B. (1990). Transformational leadership and multiple levels of analysis.Human Relations, 43, 975–995.
Yammarino, F., & Dubinsky, A. (1992). Superior-subordinate relationships: A multiple levels of analysis approach.Human Relations, 45, 575–600.
Yammarino, F., Dubinsky, A., & Hartley, S. (1987). An approach for assessing individual versus group effects in performance evaluations.Journal of Occupational Psychology, 60, 157–167.
Yammarino, F., & Markham, S. (1992). On the application of within and between analysis: Are absence and affect really group-based phenomena?Journal of Applied Psychology, 77, 168–176.
Yukl, G. (1989).Leadership in Organizations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Yukl, G., & Falbe, C. (1991). The importance of different power sources in downward and lateral relations.Journal of Applied Psychology, 76, 3, 416–423.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
We thank Bruce Avolio, Bernard Bass, and Gary Yukl for their helpful comments.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Atwater, L.E., Yammarino, F.J. Bases of power in relation to leader behavior: A field investigation. J Bus Psychol 11, 3–22 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02278251
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02278251