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The Influence of Leadership Style on Subordinates’ Attachment to the Leader

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 July 2013

Fernando Molero ,
Juan A. Moriano  and
Phillip R. Shaver
Fernando Molero*
Affiliation:
Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (Spain)
Juan A. Moriano
Affiliation:
Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (Spain)
Phillip R. Shaver
Affiliation:
University of California, Davis (USA)
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Fernando Molero, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia. Departamento de Psicología Social y de las Organizaciones. Madrid (Spain). E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

The aim of this research is to explore the extent to which employees establish attachment bonds with their leaders and the effects these bonds have on organizational outcomes. A sample of 225 participants reported on their supervisor’s leadership style (transformational, transactional, or passive-avoidant), their attachment bonds to this supervisor (anxious or avoidant), and four organizational variables (subordinate’s satisfaction, identification with the organization, extra effort, and perceived leadership effectiveness). Results, analyzed using a Partial Least Squares (PLS) approach, indicated that (a) transformational leadership was negatively associated with employees’ insecure (anxious or avoidant) attachment to their leader; (b) passive/avoidant leadership was positively associated with subordinates’ insecure attachment to their leader; (c) transactional leadership was positively associated with employee’s anxious attachment but not with their avoidant attachment; (d) avoidant, but not anxious, attachment to the leader was negatively associated with employee satisfaction, perceived leader effectiveness, employee’s extra effort, and organizational identification.

Keywords

attachmenttransformational leadershippassive-avoidant leadershipemployee satisfactionorganizational identification
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 16 , 2013 , E62
Copyright
Copyright © Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2013 

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