The influence of leader behavior patterns on leader effectiveness and follower satisfaction

A survey field study was conducted to analyze the impact of task-oriented and relations-oriented behaviors on leadership effectiveness and subordinate satisfaction. The current study not only looked at the simple relationships among variables, but also examined on the possibility of curvilinear relationships and additive effects versus multiplicative effects in predicting leader effectiveness and follower satisfaction.;The results showed that both relations-oriented and task-oriented behaviors were significantly related to ratings of leader effectiveness. However, only relations-oriented behavior, not task-oriented behavior, was significantly related to subordinate satisfaction. Regarding an interaction between relations-oriented and task-oriented leader behavior, the present study failed to find significant interaction effects between the two types of leader behavior on leader effectiveness and subordinate satisfaction. There was little support for the high-high proposition that leaders are more effective if they use a high level of both types of behavior. There was no support for a multiplicative effect from the two types of behavior, and relations-oriented behavior accounted for most of the leader influence on subordinate satisfaction and effectiveness ratings.;The polynomial regression analyses found significant, but weak, curvilinear relationships of relations-oriented behavior and task-oriented behavior on subordinate satisfaction. Increasing both types of behavior above a moderate level had diminishing effects on the improvement of subordinate satisfaction. However, the optimal amount of tasks and relations behavior may vary for different subordinates, and the optimal amount may depend on the use of relevant types of behavior as well as the overall amount of the behavior. Results for ratings of leader effectiveness were weaker and less consistent.