Development and Validation of a Military Training Mental Toughness Inventory

Three studies were conducted to develop and validate a mental toughness instrument for use in military training environments. Study 1 (n = 435) focused on item generation and testing the structural integrity of the Military Training Mental Toughness Inventory (MTMTI). The measure assessed ability to maintain optimal performance under pressure from a range of different stressors experienced by recruits during infantry basic training. Study 2 (n = 104) examined the concurrent validity, predictive validity, and test–retest reliability of the measure. Study 3 (n = 106) confirmed the predictive validity of the measure with a sample of more specialized infantry recruits. Overall, the military training mental toughness inventory demonstrated sound psychometric properties and structural validity. Furthermore, it was found to possess good test–retest reliability, concurrent validity, and predicted performance in 2 different training contexts with 2 separate samples.     

Predicting unit performance by assessing transformational and transactional leadership

How do leadership ratings collected from units operating under stable conditions predict subsequent performance of those units operating under high stress and uncertainty? To examine this question, the authors calculated the predictive relationships for the transformational and transactional leadership of 72 light infantry rifle platoon leaders for ratings of unit potency, cohesion, and performance for U.S. Army platoons participating in combat simulation exercises. Both transformational and transactional contingent reward leadership ratings of platoon leaders and sergeants positively predicted unit performance. The relationship of platoon leadership to performance was partially mediated through the unit's level of potency and cohesion. Implications, limitations, and future directions for leadership research are discussed.     

魅力型领导与军事团队绩效：军政双主官的交互效应及士气的中介

我军广泛实行分工负责军事和政治工作的平级双领导体制,两名主官的相互作用可能产生额外影响效果。本研究在“连”这一双领导军事团队中,构建了一个以士气为中介的交互效应模型,考察连长和指导员的魅力型领导对连队绩效的影响。对350名军校士兵学员进行问卷调查,结果显示：（1）连长和指导员的魅力型领导对连队绩效具有交互效应。（2）士气在连长、指导员的魅力型领导与连队绩效之间均具有中介效应。（3）连长、指导员的魅力型领导对连队绩效的交互效应受到士气的中介。（4）双主官的交互效应为补偿式：与低魅力型领导搭档时,高魅力型领导的积极效果凸显,但两位高魅力型领导的协同效应不显著。     

魅力型领导与军事团队绩效：军政双主官的交互效应及士气的中介

我军广泛实行分工负责军事和政治工作的平级双领导体制,两名主官的相互作用可能产生额外影响效果。本研究在“连”这一双领导军事团队中,构建了一个以士气为中介的交互效应模型,考察连长和指导员的魅力型领导对连队绩效的影响。对350名军校士兵学员进行问卷调查,结果显示：（1）连长和指导员的魅力型领导对连队绩效具有交互效应。（2）士气在连长、指导员的魅力型领导与连队绩效之间均具有中介效应。（3）连长、指导员的魅力型领导对连队绩效的交互效应受到士气的中介。（4）双主官的交互效应为补偿式：与低魅力型领导搭档时,高魅力型领导的积极效果凸显,但两位高魅力型领导的协同效应不显著。     

Opinion leadership types or continuous opinion leadership traits?

Opinion leadership is typically conceptualised as a continuous personality trait. However, many authors adhere to the view of qualitatively different opinion leadership types and apply arbitrary criteria to split continuous trait scores into two groups (i.e., opinion leaders vs. non‐leaders). The present study is the first to empirically evaluate this approach. A sample of N = 3812 adults (67% women) was administered a validated opinion leadership scale. Finite mixture models examined whether the latent trait distribution can be represented by a set of discrete trait levels that reflected distinct opinion leadership types. The results did not give support to a discrete typology that distinguished leaders from non‐leaders. Rather, opinion leadership was best characterised as a continuous trait.     

To Be,or Not to Be,Linear: An expanded representation of personality and its relationship to leadership performance

In this study, we tested for a set of complex, nonlinear relationships between derailing/dark side personality composites and leadership performance using two independent samples of managers/leaders (N=1306 and N=290 for Study 1 and 2, respectively). Based on the structure and characteristics of the derailing/dark side trait composites, we expected the relationship between these composites and leadership performance would best be described with an inverted U function. In Study 1, we found evidence of a nonlinear relationship between the derailing composite, as measured by the Global Personality Inventory^©, and behaviorally based, structured ratings of leadership performance in an assessment center. Similarly, Study 2 found evidence for a nonlinear relationship between dark side composites, as measured by the Hogan Development Survey^©, and supervisory/other ratings of leadership performance. We discuss the implications of these complex, nonlinear findings with respect to the continued use of personality for the selection and promotion of future leaders. Limitations of the current study and directions for future research are noted.     

Limits of authenticity: How organizational politics bound the positive effects of authentic leadership on follower satisfaction and performance

The authentic leadership paradigm has been widely advocated as an effective leadership approach for organizations interested in promoting positive and ethical leader—member relations. Despite accumulating evidence concerning the positive follower effects of authentic leadership, research examining potential boundary conditions remains limited. The political influence theoretical perspective promises to shed new light on the effects of authentic leadership by proposing that authentic leadership may be less effective in political contexts, bounding its positive operation on followers. Specifically, we anticipate that organizational politics will erode the motivational power of authentic leaders on followers, reducing their ability to engender positive performance contributions in followers. We also predict that organizational politics will weaken the positive relationship between authentic leadership and job satisfaction by reducing the ability of employees to realize their goals at work. To explore these theoretical assertions, we incorporated a two-study functional replication (n₁ = 265; n₂ = 175) to ascertain how authentic leadership and organizational politics impact follower job satisfaction, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), and task performance. We find that organizational politics consistently weaken the positive effects of authentic leadership on follower OCB across two studies. Furthermore, in Study 2, our findings suggest that organizational politics attenuate the positive impact of authentic leadership on follower job satisfaction and task performance. We discuss theoretical and practical implications.     

Motivated or Demotivated to Be Creative: The Role of Self‐Regulatory Focus in Transformational and Transactional Leadership Processes

Numerous studies have recognised the importance of transformational leadership style for encouraging employees’ creativity. Self‐regulation studies have highlighted the influence of a promotion focus on employees’ creative behaviours. Yet both leadership and self‐regulation theories have paid less attention to the role transactional leadership style and situational prevention regulatory focus may play in affecting employees’ creativity. In this article we present a theoretical model which examines transformational and transactional leadership styles and both promotion and prevention situational self‐regulatory focus (SRF). The model suggests that while transformational leadership promotes creativity, at least partially by enhancing follower's situational promotion SRF, transactional leadership style (transactional active) is aligned with followers’ prevention situational SRF, which is associated with leaders’ hindering of followers’ creativity. Findings from two studies, an experimental study (N = 189) and a field study (N = 343 employees and 75 managers), support this model, showing that the relationship between different types of leadership and creativity are more complex than previously regarded. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

How Learning Goal Orientation Fosters Leadership Recognition in Self‐Managed Teams: A Two‐Stage Mediation Model

Defined as a mental framework for how individuals interpret and respond to achievement situations, learning goal orientation (LGO) has received increasing attention in organisational research. However, its effect on leadership, especially in contexts absent of formal leadership, remains understudied. Drawing on social exchange theory, we propose and test an individual‐level two‐stage process model of generalised exchange linking LGO and leadership recognition in self‐managed teams. Specifically, we posit that learning‐oriented individuals will tend to feel safer in self‐managed teams, which will enable and sustain their engagement in contextual role behavior. Such behavior, in turn, will be reciprocated with recognition of these individuals as leaders. We use a multiphase, multi‐informant approach (n = 287), and we find that felt safety mediates the effect of LGO on contextual role behavior, but that contextual role behavior alone does not mediate the effect of LGO on leadership recognition. LGO has an indirect effect on leadership recognition through the joint mediation of felt safety and contextual role behavior. Our results offer insight on the link between LGO and leadership, with practical implications for people working in self‐managed teams.     

Measuring Situation Awareness in Virtual Environment-Based Training

We evaluated the efficacy of a computer-based situation awareness (SA) measurement system for training dismounted infantry SA in an urban terrain virtual reality (VR) simulation. Based on past research, we hypothesized that the SA measures would be sensitive to individual (squad leader) differences, and that the frequency of specific probes would reveal differences in critical SA requirements among scenarios. Three infantry squads performed multiple trials across two different scenarios. A confederate platoon leader posed probes to squad leaders during trials and experts made ratings afterward. Results revealed squad leaders had similar responses to probes, despite differences in combat experience. Analysis of probe frequency revealed different high priority SA elements and decisions for each scenario. The SA behavior and communication ratings revealed differences among squads, which trended with experience. Measures of SA were also consistent across the test scenario as a result of similar mission types and task difficulties. We discuss the implication of our findings for future research and theory within this area.     

Cultural Intelligence and International Leadership Potential: The Importance of Contact for Members of the Majority

Integrating distinctiveness theory and contact theory, we develop a conceptual model proposing that prior intercultural contact has mediated effects on international leadership potential via cultural intelligence—but that these effects are stronger for majorities. Results of two samples of working adults, using both self‐report (n= 441, Study 1) and matched employee‐observer (n= 181, Study 2) data provide strong support for the model. Cultural intelligence mediates the effects of prior intercultural contact on international leadership potential. Further, moderated mediation analyses demonstrate that cultural intelligence mediates the relationship between prior intercultural contact and international leadership potential for majorities, but not for minorities. The current study offers contributions to theory and practice in at least two ways. First, the proposed model is theoretically important because it provides a more complete picture of predictors of international leadership potential and it reconciles prior inconsistent findings by showing the mediating role of cultural intelligence and moderating role of minority status. Second, the study adds to the increasing evidence suggesting that prior intercultural contact and cultural intelligence are meaningful criteria for developing international leaders. More important, results show that prior intercultural contact is especially important for majorities.     

Servant leadership and follower voice: the roles of follower felt responsibility for constructive change and avoidance-approach motivation

Our study contributes to research exploring the differential antecedents of employee promotive and prohibitive voice. We first examined the mediating role of employee felt responsibility for constructive change (FRCC) in the positive relationship between servant leadership and their prohibitive and promotive voice. We then tested the differential moderating effects of employee dispositional avoidance-approach orientation, where the indirect effect of servant leadership on prohibitive voice is weakened for the high avoidance-motivated, and the indirect effect of servant leadership on promotive voice is weakened for the high approach-motivated. To test our hypotheses, multi-source data were collected from 231 supervisor-supervisee dyads working in a range of companies and sectors in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As predicted, employee FRCC mediates the positive relationship between servant leadership and prohibitive voice and these indirect effects are significantly weaker for the high avoidance-motivated. We did not observe the predicted weakening effects of high approach-motivation on the indirect relationship between servant leadership and promotive voice. It seems servant leaders may be less influential for those avoidance-motivated individuals already predisposed to enact prohibitive forms of voice, such as voicing concerns about harmful organizational processes and practices. Implications for social exchange and role theories, and managerial practice, are discussed.     

Personality and Charismatic Leadership in Context: The Moderating Role of Situational Stress

We adopt an interactionist perspective and extend previous work on personality and charismatic leadership by considering the relationship between them across contexts. Based on Gray's reinforcement sensitivity theory, we expected the relationships between approach‐oriented dispositions and charisma to diminish under conditions of high workload‐induced stress. In a large‐scale lab study with 201 groups (Study 1, N = 721 participants), we manipulated conditions of stress and tested the interaction of stress with leaders’ extraversion and openness to experience in predicting their charismatic behaviors. We then tested, in a field study of 71 executives (Study 2, N = 256 participants), the interaction of employees’ reported stress with leaders’ stimulation values in predicting their charismatic behavior. In support of our hypotheses, the relationships between approach‐oriented dispositions and charisma were significantly weaker when stress was high. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of this finding, in particular given that it is in stressful conditions under which charismatic leadership is said to be most important.     

Transformational leadership,psychological empowerment,and flow at work

ABSTRACT

Frequent experiences of flow – an enjoyable state of optimal challenge – at work are associated with many positive individual and organizational outcomes. In our research, we examine how leaders affect subordinates’ flow experiences through subordinates’ work-related self-concept. Specifically, on the basis of self-concept theory, we propose that transformational leaders affect followers’ work-related self-concept, which we construe as followers’ psychological empowerment, consisting of the four sub-facets of meaning, competence, self-determination and impact. We further propose that psychological empowerment is positively related to flow experiences at work. In sum, we thus hypothesize that the effect of transformational leadership on employees’ flow experiences is mediated by psychological empowerment. Additionally, we propose that this indirect effect is moderated such that it is stronger for employees holding a formal leadership position. We tested the model with two two-wave questionnaire studies with employees (Study 1: N = 307 at time 1; N = 60 at time 2; Study 2: N = 611 at time 1; N = 271 at time 2) from different organizations. Path models reveal support for the mediation hypotheses in both samples but not for the moderated mediation hypothesis.     

Endorsement of distributively fair and unfair leaders in interpersonal and intergroup situations

Differences in the strength of endorsement for distributively fair and unfair leaders in interpersonal and intergroup situations were measured. Fair leaders were expected to receive stronger endorsements than unfair leaders in interpersonal situations. This difference, however, was expected to attenuate, if not reverse in intergroup situations when the unfairness favoured the ingroup. An attenuation effect obtained in Experiment 1 (N=49) using ad hoc groups in a laboratory setting. Attenuation and reversal effects obtained, respectively, in Experiments 2 (N=314) and 3 (N=213) using preexisting groups (students and New Zealanders, respectively) in a scenario setting. Fairness ratings followed patterns similar to leadership endorsements in Experiments 2 and 3. Finally, Experiment 3 showed a reversal in participants' private attitudes toward an issue about which the leader expressed an opinion. These data extend previous research on leadership endorsement and are consistent with predictions derived from Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1986). © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Leadership Team Cohesion and Subordinate Work Unit Morale and Performance

This study examined (a) the relationship of cohesion among members of a platoon leadership team to subordinate attitudes and performance and (b) the degree of consensus among squad members and their leaders regarding the leadership team's cohesiveness. In a sample of 60 light infantry platoons, squad members' perceptions of leadership team cohesion (LC) were signifi- cantly related (at both individual and unit levels) to their cohesion, organiza- tional identification, job involvement, task motivation, career intent, and perceptions of unit effectiveness. They were also related to ratings of performance in simulated combat. Regression revealed LC to be beneficial over and above the perceived quality of the individual leaders. Most of these relationships held true from the perspective of squad leaders, and some from the perspective of platoon sergeants and platoon leaders. The degree of consensus among the different levels varied as well. The results suggest that leaders should pay more attention to the impact their cohesion or dissension may have on unit morale and performance.     

Gender and leadership aspiration: Interpersonal and collective elements of cooperative climate differentially influence women and men

Female leaders remain a minority. Because leadership aspiration is a predictor of advancement, understanding stimulating conditions is important. A neglected perspective is the impact of organizational climate. We propose that cooperative climate can engender individuals’ motivation to contribute to the organization through leadership, and that leadership aspiration of women and men is differentially sensitive to interpersonal and collective aspects of cooperative climate. We argue that women are more disposed toward relational self‐construal and men toward collective self‐construal, and hence women's leadership aspiration is more influenced by the interpersonal element of cooperative climate whereas men's leadership aspiration by the collective element of cooperative climate. Results of a survey of N = 404 employed men and women supported both hypotheses.     

Affective Forecasting: Predicting and Experiencing Satisfaction With Public Transportation1

Affective forecasting in public transport was investigated in 2 studies. Study 1 revealed differences in satisfaction between users (n = 870) and non‐users (n = 137). Users were more satisfied than were non‐users with regard to reliability and safety, as well as with regard to overall satisfaction. It was also found that non‐users mispredicted their satisfaction with public transport. Study 2 revealed that habitual car users (n = 106) reported greater satisfaction after using public transport for 1 month than they had predicted initially, which provided additional support for the hypothesis that habitual car users would mispredict their satisfaction with public transport. Satisfaction with public transport also increased in comparison with a random sample of car users (n = 63).     

The adaptive value of personality differences revealed by small island population dynamics

Whether differences in personality among populations really exist and, if so, whether they are only due to cultural and linguistic differences or have a genetically selected adaptive value, is a controversial issue. In this research, we compared three Italian populations living on three small archipelagos in the Tyrrhenian Sea (n = 993), with their corresponding neighbouring mainlanders (n = 598), i.e. sharing the same geographical origin, culture and language. We used an adjective‐based Big Five questionnaire in order to measure personality traits in four categories of individuals for each archipelago/mainland population: (1) original islanders; (2) non‐original islanders; (3) mainlanders and (4) immigrants to the islands. We further analysed original and non‐original islanders who had or had not emigrated from the islands. We found that islanders had different personality traits from mainlanders, the former being more conscientious and emotionally stable and less extraverted and open to experience. We also found that the subgroup of islanders whose ancestors had inhabited their island for about 20 generations in isolation (original islanders, n = 624) were less extraverted and open to experience than immigrants (n = 193). In contrast, immigrants retained the typical personality profile of the mainland populations. Lastly, emigrants from the islands (n = 209) were significantly more extraverted and open to experience than original and non‐original islanders who had never left their island (n = 741). We hypothesise that population differences in extraversion and openness to experience are more probably related to genetic differences which evolved rapidly, presumably through an active gene flow produced by selective emigration from the islands. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.