Prior research is equivocal about whether leadership is more effective when it matches typical cultural practices (the cultural congruence argument) or compensates for "ineffective" cultural practices (the cultural compensation argument). We propose that a more nuanced answer to the congruence-versus-compensation debate requires the joint consideration of leadership, culture, and task contexts. A meta-analysis of 460 field samples of transformational leadership (N = 124,646) and 139 field samples of transactional leadership (N = 38,327) across 53 cultures revealed three key results: First, both transformational and transactional leadership universally relate positively to follower performance outcomes. The strength of these relationships ranges between 0.25 and 0.39 for transformational leadership and between 0.12 and 0.24 for transactional leadership. Second, the positive effects of transformational leadership on convergent performance outcomes are more pronounced in cultures characterized by norms of vertical differentiation (including high power distance) and harmony (including collectivism), consistent with the cultural congruence perspective. Third, the positive effects of transactional leadership on divergent performance outcomes are more pronounced in cultures characterized by norms of low performance-focus (including low uncertainty avoidance), consistent with the cultural compensation perspective. We discuss the implications of these findings for transformational and transactional leadership research and practice.

先前的研究对于与典型的文化实践相匹配（文化一致性论点）或补偿“无效”文化实践（文化补偿论点）是否更有效的领导力是否更有效是模棱两可的。我们建议对一致性与补偿辩论的更细致的回答需要对领导力、文化和任务环境的共同考虑。对 460 个变革型领导的现场样本（N = 124,646）和 139 个交易型领导的现场样本（N= 38,327) 跨 53 种文化揭示了三个关键结果：首先，变革型和交易型领导普遍与追随者绩效结果呈正相关。对于变革型领导，这些关系的强度介于 0.25 和 0.39 之间，对于交易型领导，介于 0.12 和 0.24 之间。其次，变革型领导对趋同绩效结果的积极影响在以纵向差异（包括高权力距离）和和谐（包括集体主义）为特征的文化中更为明显，这与文化一致性观点一致。第三，交易型领导对不同绩效结果的积极影响在以低绩效为特征的文化（包括低不确定性规避）为特征的文化中更为明显，符合文化补偿的观点。我们讨论了这些发现对变革型和交易型领导力研究和实践的影响。