PERCEIVED AND PREFERRED STYLES OF LEADERSHIP: INFLUENCES ON EMPLOYEE JOB SATISFACTION

Abstract

The study was conducted in the headquarters of a mining company in Perth, Western Australia. The findings suggest that the dissonance factor (perceived leadership style received versus preferred style) was higher for women than for men. Women, in fact, desired a more democratic style of leadership than men while the perceived styles were very similar for both genders. The dissonance factor was related to job satisfaction but it appears that the dissonance factor is a better measure of longterm commitment to the organisation while job satisfaction appears to measure a shorter‐term employee satisfaction. The results of the study suggest that high levels of commitment and job satisfaction are independent of the style of leadership received. This challenges the advice given by organisational behaviourists over the last few years that a democratic style was necessary to improve job satisfaction, reduce absenteeism and labour turnover and increase productivity.

Citation

Savery, L.K. (1991), "PERCEIVED AND PREFERRED STYLES OF LEADERSHIP: INFLUENCES ON EMPLOYEE JOB SATISFACTION", Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 28-32. https://doi.org/10.1108/02683949110140048