The primary purpose of this research was to extend current knowledge of the individual differences that are traditionally associated with leadership emergence and to determine whether the individuals characterized by individual differences attributed to transformational leaders were also likely to emerge as a leader in a leaderless group. Leadership behaviors and followers' perceptions of emergent leadership of individuals with Ross and Offermann's (1997) enabling and forceful personality patterns were examined in an emergence setting that facilitates transformational leadership. A secondary purpose of this research was to further our knowledge of the process of leadership. The leadership process defined by Lord and his associates (Lord, Fot & Phillips, 1982; Lord, Foti & DeVader., 1984) was expanded to include relevant elements of Mischel's theory of personality (Mischel, 1999). The contextual influence of the task situation and feedback from others were examined. Individuals did not differ on transformational leadership behavior, but forceful individuals did exhibit a greater proportion of initiating structure behaviors than other individuals and were rated highest on leadership. In addition, there was no evidence of changes in the leadership process due to feedback based on the perceptions of others. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed. / Ph. D.

Prior work in the transformational leadership realm has focused primarily on relations among leader behaviors and various criteria such as subordinate satisfaction and effectiveness. This restrictive focus has limited the degree to which one of Bass's (1985a) central arguments can be directly assessed; namely, that optimally effective leaders engage in both transformational and transactional behaviors. In this study, an analytic technique known as the pattern approach was employed to effectively discern which particular pattern of leader behaviors was associated with the highest levels of subordinate satisfaction and commitment. In general, the most effective leaders used a combination of transformational (e.g., stimulating subordinates to think of old problems in new ways; presenting a charismatic and inspirational view of the future) and contingent reward (e.g., providing pay or promotions in exchange for effective subordinate performance) behaviors, coupled with a low level of passive management-by-exception behaviors (e.g., remaining uninvolved until problems emerge). These optimally effective leaders were generally more successful than leaders who used predominantly one (e.g., transformational or transactional) behavioral style. / Ph. D.

The purpose of the present study was to expand researchers' understanding of work motivation by taking a pattern approach to the examination of the dimensions of goal orientation. To explore the differential behavior of people who possess different goal orientation patterns, the present study sought to verify the existence of optimal and least optimal patterns using two important motivational outcome variables: self-efficacy and exerted effort. In addition, the role of the performance-approach goal orientation (PGO) dimension within the context of goal orientation patterns was examined. Data was collected from a sample of college students who were asked to perform a puzzle solving task and complete scales assessing their effort exerted and self-efficacy related to this task. Three hundred and seventy one participants were classified into 8 patterns. The results confirmed the existence of an optimal and a least optimal pattern of goal orientation for self efficacy and partially confirmed the existence of such patterns for exerted effort. The findings also suggested that PGO is better understood when it is examined in the context of goal orientation patterns. Specifically, PGO exhibited adaptive behaviors when paired with a strong learning goal orientation (LGO) and weak performance-avoid goal orientation (AGO), and maladaptive behaviors when paired with a strong AGO and low LGO. Taken as a whole, the results indicated that the use of goal orientation patterns produces findings that have not been previously demonstrated by traditional variable-oriented approaches. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed. / Ph. D.

The present study employed a novel approach to extend current knowledge of how ideal leader prototypes and self-concepts solely and dually influence leader categorization and effectiveness judgments. Cluster analysis and policy-capturing were employed to examine independent and dependent variables as patterns. Findings partially supported hypotheses and corroborated previous research. Leader categorization and effectiveness judgments were self-affirming across multiple managerial performance scenarios; implicit policies varied based on the pattern of traits exhibited within their self-concepts and ideal leader prototypes. On average, people who endorsed prototypical ideal leader prototypes and self-concepts were more stringent compared to individuals with less prototypical patterns. They categorized fewer managers as leaders, perceived them as less effective, and weighed Planning, Motivating, and Controlling performance behaviors more in their judgments. The study also showed ideal leader prototypes explained variance in implicit policies for leader categorization and effectiveness beyond the variance accounted for by self-concepts; however, the self-concept remained a significant predictor of implicit policies for leader effectiveness. This novel finding suggests the self-concept, like the ideal leader prototype, is relevant in weighting performance behaviors for effectiveness judgment. / Ph. D.