Opening the black box: an experimental investigation of the mediating effects of trust and value congruence on transformational and transactional leadership

TLDR

The study examined how transformational and transactional leadership affect follower performance, with trust and value congruence as mediators. The experiment involved 194 students performing a brainstorming task under manipulated transformational or transactional leadership by confederates, with performance measured by quantity, quality, and satisfaction. Results showed transformational leadership directly and indirectly improved performance through trust and value congruence, whereas transactional leadership only had indirect effects via these mediators. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Abstract

This experimental study examined the causal effects of transformational and transactional leadership and the mediating role of trust and value congruence on follower performance. A total of 194 student participants worked on a brainstorming task under transformational and transactional leadership conditions. Leadership styles were manipulated using two confederates, and followers' performance was evaluated via three measures—quantity, quality, and satisfaction. Results, based on path analyses using LISREL, indicated that transformational leadership had both direct and indirect effects on performance mediated through followers' trust in the leader and value congruence. However, transactional leadership had only indirect effects on followers' performance mediated through followers' trust and value congruence. Implications of these results for future research on leadership are provided. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.