A Laboratory Study of the Moderating Effect of Task Importance on the Relationship between Transformational and Transactional Leadership Styles

The impact of leadership on both individual and group level outcomes is of great interest to both researchers and organizations. From the organizational perspective, effective leadership can result in such important outcomes as the motivation and development of employees, the optimization of individual and unit level performance, and the realization of the organization’s strategic goals. Understanding how different factors interact to contribute to effective leadership is therefore critical. These factors may include (but are not limited to) the personality characteristics of leaders and followers, the behaviors of the leader, and contextual factors. The current study investigated the effects of different transformational and transactional leadership styles on a series of outcomes, as well as the moderating effect of the perceived importance of the task being performed on these relationships.