A Contingency Model of Leadership Effectiveness1

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60051-9Get rights and content

Publisher Summary

The leader is an individual in the group, who directs and coordinates task-relevant group activities, or who, in the absence of a designated leader, automatically performs these functions in the group. This chapter provides an overview of the framework for the understanding of factors which determine a leader's personality attributes and its impact on group performance, the development of integrative model, and empirical support for the model. A leader is either appointed by a representative of the larger organization of which the group is a part; or is elected by the group; or in case there is neither an elected nor an appointed leader, he can be identified as most influential on task-relevant questions of a sociometric preference questionnaire. The leader and member abilities are among the most important predictors of group performance, and a high correlation between the leader's ability score and the group's performance presumably reflects the degree of leader influence over the task itself. The negative correlations suggest that the leader's influence, or his contribution to the task is minimal. A leader can be trained to modify these attitudes, but considerable effort might be required on the part of many individuals to make them. The leader's task functions and his therapeutic attitudes are highly speculative, and extensive future research is required to elucidate the role, which these therapeutic attitudes play in the group process.

References (71)

  • FiedlerF.E. et al.

    Acta Psychol.

    (1961)
  • Anderson, L. R., and Fiedler, F. E. (1962). The Effect of Participatory and Supervisory Leadership on Group Creativity....
  • ArgyleM. et al.

    Human Relat

    (1957)
  • BassB.M.

    “Leadership, Psychology, and Organizational Behavior”

    (1960)
  • BerkowitzL.

    J. Abnorm. Soc. Psychol.

    (1953)
  • BieriJ.

    J. Abnorm. Soc. Psychol.

    (1953)
  • CampbellD.T.

    Behav. Sci.

    (1958)
  • CartwrightD. et al.

    Group Dynamics

  • CattellR.B.

    Human Relat.

    (1951)
  • Clark, R. A. (1955). Leadership in Rifle Squads on the Korean Front Line. Human Resources Research Unit No. 2, CONARC,...
  • ClevenW.A. et al.

    J Appl. Psychol.

    (1956)
  • ComreyA.L.

    Personnel Psychol.

    (1954)
  • ComreyA.L. et al.

    Factors Influencing Organizational Effectiveness

    (1954)
  • CronbachL.J. et al.

    Psychol. Bull.

    (1953)
  • DavitzJ.

    J. Abnorm. Soc. Psychol.

    (1955)
  • DeutschM.

    Human Relat.

    (1949)
  • DeZonia, R. H. (1958). Unpublished Ph. D. Dissertation, University of Illinois, Urbana,...
  • FiedlerF.E.

    J. Clin. Psychol.

    (1951)
  • FiedlerF.E.

    J. Abnorm. Soc. Psychol.

    (1954)
  • FiedlerF.E.

    J. Abnorm. Soc. Psychol.

    (1955)
  • FiedlerF.E.

    “Leadership and Interpersonal Behavior”

  • FiedlerF.E.

    J. Abnorm. Soc. Psychol.

    (1962)
  • FiedlerF.E. et al.

    J. Abnorm. Soc. Psychol.

    (1963)
  • FiedlerF.E. et al.

    J. Abnorm. Soc. Psychol.

    (1952)
  • Fiedler, F. E., Bass, A. R., and Fiedler, J. M. (1961a). Tech. Rep. No. 1, Group Effectiveness Research Laboratory,...
  • Fiedler, F. E., London, P., and Nemo, R. S. (1961c). Hypnotically Induced Leader Attitudes and Group Creativity. Group...
  • Fiedler, F. E., Hackman, R. R., and Meuwese, W. A. T. (1964). Group Effectiveness Research Laboratory, University of...
  • FrenchJ.R.P.

    Psychol. Rev.

    (1956)
  • FrenchJ.R.P. et al.

    Sociometry

    (1958)
  • George, C. E. (1962). Research Memorandum #26, U. S. Army Infantry Human Research Unit, Fort Benning,...
  • GerardH.B.

    J. Pers.

    (1957)
  • GibbC.A.
  • GodfreyE.P. et al.

    “Boards, Managers, and Company Success”

    (1959)
  • GordonT.

    “Group Centered Leadership: A Way of Releasing the Creative Power of the Group

    (1955)
  • Cited by (701)

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    1

    The present paper is based on Technical Report No. 10, ONR Project “Group and Organizational Factors Influencing Creativity” (NR 177-472, Nonr 1834(36), Fred E. Fiedler, C. E. Osgood, L. M. Stolurow, and H. C. Triandis, Principal Investigators. The writer is especially indebted to his colleagues A. R. Bass, L. J. Cronbach, M. Fishbein, J. E. McGrath, W. A. T. Meuwese, C. E. Osgood, I. D. Steiner, H. C. Triandis, and L. R. Tucker, who offered suggestions and criticisms at various stages of this paper.

    View full text