A theoretical and empirical extension to the transformational leadership construct

• Published in: Journal of organizational behavior Vol. 22; no. 7; pp. 759 - 774
• Main Authors: Goodwin, Vicki L., Wofford, J. C., Whittington, J. Lee
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01.11.2001; John Wiley & Sons; Wiley Periodicals Inc
• Subjects: Behavior; Charisma; Contracts; Empirical evidence; Factor analysis; Incentives; Individualization; Industrial and organizational psychology; Leadership; Mental stimulation; Motivation; Organizational behavior; Organizational psychology; Psychological contracts; Psychology; Questionnaires; Rewards; Studies; Transformational leadership; United States > US
• ISSN: 0894-3796; 1099-1379
• DOI: 10.1002/job.111

The contingent rewards subscale of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) was examined in an attempt to theoretically explain recent empirical results linking contingent rewards to transformational rather than transactional leadership. In Study 1, we supported the proposal that the items in the contingent rewards subscale represented two separate factors, an explicit and an implicit psychological contract. In addition, the implicit factor loaded with other transformational subscales and the explicit factor loaded with other transactional subscales. We confirmed these results in Study 2, and supported other hypotheses from transformational leadership theory using the contingent rewards revision. Implications for the transformational leadership construct are discussed.