Servant leadership: Its construct, measures, and effects in organizations

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25780383
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Social psychology
• Research Institution: Fukuoka University
• Principal Investigator: Ikeda Hiroshi 福岡大学, 人文学部, 准教授 (80454700)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: サーバント・リーダーシップ / 奉仕 / 情緒的信頼 / 心理欲求の充足 / 自律的モチベーション

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Servant leadership (Greenleaf, 1971) focuses on developing and helping followers achieve their full potential. However, most previous research has mainly examined measurement tools and identified dimensions of servant leadership (e.g., Liden et al., 2008). Therefore, few studies have clarified the potential effects of servant leadership. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of servant leadership. The main findings showed that servant leadership had a different effect compared to transformational leadership (e.g., Bass, 1985). Servant leadership influenced team performance through affect-based trust. On the other hand, transformational leadership influenced team performance indirectly through cognition-based trust. Moreover, servant leadership and autonomous motivation were mediated by follower psychological need satisfaction. Furthermore, servant leadership had a ripple effect on relationship building between team members.

Free Research Field

社会心理学