The present paper reports three studies that were based on the general proposition that the effectiveness of transformational leadership (TL) depends on whether the displayed TL behaviors match the followers’ motives. Specifically, inspirational motivation should be effective with followers high on the power motive, intellectual stimulation should be effective with followers high on the achievement motive, and individual consideration should be effective with followers high on the affiliation motive. In study 1, in order to confirm the hypothesized conceptual relationships between TL and motives, we systematically analyzed the TL literature (N = 139 papers) for motive content and found, as predicted, that descriptions of inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individual consideration were associated with power, achievement, and affiliation motive content, respectively. Study 2, a vignette study, confirmed that participants’ (N = 113) motives determined their preferences for the respective TL behaviors. In study 3 (N = 116), we manipulated TL behaviors with video clips and confirmed the predictions that followers’ affiliation [power] motive moderated the effects of individual consideration [inspirational motivation] on leaders’ influence and followers’ task performance. Mixed results were obtained regarding the expected moderating function of followers’ achievement motive on the effects of intellectual stimulation. Findings are discussed with respect to their importance in establishing TL as a motivation theory.

本论文报告了三项研究，这些研究基于以下一般命题：变革型领导 (TL) 的有效性取决于所展示的 TL 行为是否与追随者的动机相匹配。具体来说，激励动机对权力动机高的追随者应该有效，智力刺激应该对成就动机高的追随者有效，个人考虑应该对归属动机高的追随者有效。在研究 1 中，为了确认 TL 和动机之间假设的概念关系，我们系统地分析了 TL 文献（N = 139 篇论文）的动机内容，并发现，正如预测的那样，对励志动机、智力刺激和个人考虑的描述分别与权力、成就和从属动机内容相关联。研究 2 是一项小插曲研究，证实参与者 ( N  = 113) 的动机决定了他们对各自 TL 行为的偏好。在研究 3 ( N = 116），我们通过视频剪辑操纵了 TL 行为，并证实了以下预测：追随者的归属 [权力] 动机调节了个人考虑 [励志动机] 对领导者的影响力和追随者的任务绩效的影响。关于追随者成就动机对智力刺激效果的预期调节作用，得到了不同的结果。讨论了研究结果在建立 TL 作为动机理论方面的重要性。