Nguyen, V.Q., Turner, N., Barling, J. et al. (2 more authors) (2023) Reconciling general transformational leadership and safety-specific transformational leadership: a paradox perspective. Journal of Safety Research, 84. pp. 435-447. ISSN 0022-4375
Abstract
Introduction: Research exploring the relationship between transformational leadership and safety has used transformational leadership in context-free (e.g., “general transformational leadership,” or GTL) and context-specific forms (e.g., “safety-specific transformational leadership,” or SSTL), assuming these constructs are theoretically and empirically equivalent. In this paper, a paradox theory is drawn on (Schad et al., 2016, Smith and Lewis, 2011) to reconcile the relationship between these two forms of transformational leadership and safety.
Method: This is done by: (a) investigating whether GTL and SSTL are empirically distinguishable; (b) testing the relative importance of GTL and SSTL in explaining variance in context-free work outcomes (i.e., in-role performance, organizational citizenship behaviors) and context-specific (i.e., safety compliance, safety participation); and (c) examining the extent to which perceived safety concern in the work environment renders GTL and SSTL distinguishable.
Results: Two studies (one cross-sectional, one short-term longitudinal) show that GTL and SSTL are psychometrically distinct albeit highly correlated. Furthermore, SSTL explained statistically more variance than GTL in both safety participation and organizational citizenship behaviors, whereas GTL explained more variance in in-role performance than did SSTL. However, GTL and SSTL were only distinguishable in low-concern contexts but not high-concern contexts.
Conclusions and Practical Applications: These findings challenge the “either-or” (vs “both-and”) approach to considering safety and performance, cautioning researchers to consider nuanced differences in context-free and context-specific forms of leadership and to avoid further proliferation of often redundant context-specific operationalizations of leadership.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Journal of Safety Research. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. Article available under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-ND licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
Keywords: | paradox; relative weight analysis; safety; transformational leadership |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Management School (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 10 Oct 2022 15:05 |
Last Modified: | 15 Dec 2024 01:13 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.jsr.2022.12.006 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:191562 |
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Filename: Nguyen et al 2022-09-30 JSR accepted.pdf
Licence: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0