Transformational leadership and psychological well-being: Effects on followers and leaders

Author(s): Arnold, K. A., & Connelly, C. E.

Date: 2013

Resource: In H.S. Leonard, R. Lewis, A. Freedman, & J. Passmore (Eds.), The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Psychology of Leadership, Change and Organizational Development (pp. 175-194). Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

This chapter describes research focused specifically on the relationship between transformational leadership behaviors and employee psychological well-being. It summarize the literature that examines how transformational leadership behaviors affect leaders’ psychological well-being. Currently, the transformational-leadership literature focuses on the impact that transformational leadership in supervisors has on their followers: their performance, their job-related attitudes and their well-being. In this chapter, the focus is exclusively on three aspects of psychological well-being: burnout, affect, and mental health. The chapter presents an agenda for future research that focuses on further investigation of moderators and mediators of these relationships and the effects of enacting this style on leader psychological well-being. It addresses methodological issues that relate to this important stream of research. Further research is necessary for the benefit of leaders, their followers, and the organizations in which they work.

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Related Research Areas: Leadership & Well-being