Visionary Versus Crisis-Induced Charismatic Leadership: an Experimental Test
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VISIONARY VERSUS CRISIS-INDUCED CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP: AN EXPERIMENTAL TEST by JOAN B. RIVERA, B.B.A., M.B.A. A DISSERTATION IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Approved Accepted May. 1994 //2 // ^'^¥ I ff 7 ( Copyright 1994, Joan B. Rivera ACKNOWLEDGEMENT S I extend deep gratitude to Dr. James G. (Jerry) Hunt, chairperson of this dissertation, for his guidance in producing a rewarding research project. His patience, assistance and scholarly advice were invaluable to me, a novice, as it allowed me to develop professionally. I also wish to thank Dr. Kim Boal for providing a model to be tested and for his thoughtful and useful input. He was never at a loss for creative ideas or solutions to problems encountered. I also thank my other committee members. Dr. David Hale and Dr. Richard McGlynn, and Dr. Gail Futoran for the unigue contributions they, too, provided. Special appreciation is due Dr. Futoran for her unselfish time and effort in providing detailed feedback on early drafts of this manuscript; for her involvement in every aspect from script development to pilot studies and data analysis; and for offering encouragement and assistance to the very end. Her continued friendship and support throughout my graduate career extended far beyond this project and will always be appreciated. My thanks also to those who were instrumental in helping me formulate a sample: Professor Grant Savage, Dudley Faver, Virgil Smith, Yvonne Smith, Fred Volker, and Professor Carlton Whitehead. I am very grateful to the business students at Texas Tech for their involvement in • • 11 this study, and for the leaders. Captain Tom Bowe, Chris Wallace, and Chris Golden—without them I would have no dissertation. My thanks also to Dean Judi Henry and Dr. Nancy Bell; to my colleagues, Gerard Farias, Kevin Learned, Vinitia Mathews, and Rod Pineda, for their assistance; and to numerous members of the staff of the College of Business Administration. I am also grateful to my mother Angela and late father, August Benek, for instilling in me the work ethic needed to complete such a project. Last, but most importantly, I thank my husband. Randy, for his continued support throughout all of my higher education and for his willingness to accept a remote military assignment to Korea so we could move to Lubbock and I could pursue a doctorate. All through this demanding yet rewarding program Randy has been the wind beneath my wings. • • • 111 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS •n • ABSTRACT vii LIST OF TABLES ix LIST OF FIGURES X CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION 1 Purpose of the Study 2 Two Types of Charismatic Leaders 3 The Research Question 3 Significance of the Research 4 Organization of Succeeding Chapters 5 II. LITERATURE REVIEW OF CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP 7 Chapter Overview 7 Theoretical Foundations for Charismatic Leadership 8 Empirical Support in the Management Literature 18 Recapping the Vision and Crisis Components of Charisma 28 A Model of Two Types of Charismatic Leaders... 42 Chapter Summary 49 III. RESEARCH HYPOTHESES 59 Chapter Overview 59 Research Hypotheses 61 Chapter Summary 68 IV IV. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 74 Chapter Overview 74 Context: The Laboratory 74 Manipulation Checks 75 Outcome Measures 77 Research Sample 80 Procedures 85 Chapter Summary 98 V. DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS 101 Chapter Overview 101 Description of the Sample 101 Scale Validation 103 Manipulation Checks 105 Analyses Related to Hypotheses 108 Ad Hoc Analysis 118 Chapter Summary 12 2 VI. CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION 141 Chapter Overview 141 Effects of Leadership Manipulations 141 Effects of Leader Behaviors 142 Research Design Strengths 156 Research Design Limitations 159 Future Research Directions 160 Chapter Summary 161 REFERENCES 162 V APPENDICES A. TRANSACTIONAL LEADER SCRIPT 173 B. VISIONARY LEADER SCRIPT 182 C. CRISIS LEADER SCRIPT 192 D. APPROVAL FROM HUMAN SUBJECTS COMMITTEE ...203 E. CONSENT FORM 205 F. FIRST TASK—NO CRISIS 207 G. FIRST TASK—CRISIS 212 H. SECOND TASK—ALL TREATMENT CONDITIONS 217 I. TASK 1 PERFORMANCE MEASURES 220 J. QUESTIONNAIRE #1 222 K. QUESTIONNAIRE #2 227 L. TASK 2 PERFORMANCE MEASURES 232 M. CYCLES OF LEADERS, TREATMENT CONDITIONS, AND ROOMS 2 34 N. LEADER DEBRIEFING FORM 236 O. SAMPLE OF DEBRIEFINGS 239 VI ABSTRACT This laboratory study attempts to determine whether there are two types of charismatic leadership, crisis- induced as well as visionary, by examining the effects of both types on followers. This study also investigates the existence of both types of leader charisma across time. The results of this study offer evidence that charismatic leadership differs from noncharismatic or transactional leadership. Followers' perceived performance under both types of charismatic leaders was stronger than perceived performance under transactional leadership. Followers' perceptions of charisma followed a similar pattern in that perceptions of leader charisma in both the crisis-induced charismatic and visionary charismatic conditions were stronger than perceptions of charisma in the transactional leadership condition. Only in one case, task completion, was crisis-induced charisma significantly different from (stronger than) visionary charisma. An investigation of the temporal effects of leader charisma revealed that followers' task performance (task completion) under a crisis-induced charismatic leader declined after the crisis and remained stable over time for both the visionary and transactional leaders. Also as hypothesized, followers' perceptions of charisma remained stable across time in the visionary leadership condition. Vll Finally, task meaningfulness was found to act as a moderator on the effects of crisis-induced charismatic leadership. There was a significant interaction between task meaningfulness and leadership on task accuracy and organization-based self-esteem (OBSE). High task meaningfulness was associated with high scores on both criterion variables in the crisis-induced charismatic leadership condition. Vlll LIST OF TABLES 2.1 Vision as it Relates to Charismatic Leadership 52 2.2 Crisis as an Antecedent of Charismatic Leadership 55 2.3 Charismatic Leadership Theories with both Vision and Crisis Components 58 3.1 Variables used in Theories and Tests of Theories of Charismatic Leadership.... 69 4.1 Manipulation Checks for Pilot Studies on Crisis-Induced and Visionary Charismatics 99 5.1 Results of Factor Analysis on Dependent Variables 12 3 5.2 Intercorrelations among Manipulation Checks 124 5.3 Intercorrelations among Perceptual Dependent Measures 12 5 5.4 Intercorrelations between and among Objective Task Performance Measures... 12 6 5.5 Correlations among Manipulation Checks and Individual-Level Dependent Variables 127 5.6 Reliabilities for Manipulation Checks and Dependent Variables 12 8 5.7 Results of Manipulation Checks 12 9 5.8 ANOVA Summary Table 13 0 5.9 Table of Means 131 5.10 Summary of Findings 133 5.11 Summary of Regression Results for Tests of Moderator Effects of Task Meaningful ness on Charismatic Leadership 13 5 IX LIST OF FIGURES 3.1 Summary of Hypotheses 72 4 .1 Diagrammatic Flow of Study 100 5.1 Effect of Leadership Treatment and Time on Task Completion - Significant Interaction.. 13 6 5.2 Effect of Leadership Treatment and Time on Perceptions of Charisma - Significant Interaction 137 5.3 Effect of Leadership Treatment and Task Meaningfulness on Task 1 Accuracy 13 8 5.4 Effect of Leadership Treatment and Task Meaningfulness on Organization-Based Self-Esteem (OBSE) 139 5.5 Effect of Leadership Treatment and Task Meaningfulness on Task 2 Completion 140 X CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Beware charisma! . But to beware does not necessarily mean . "avoid!" (Hodgkinson 1983, p. 187) A few years ago, during the previous U.S. administration, our nation was celebrating victory in the Persian Gulf War. As a result of his successful handling of that crisis, former President George Bush was at the peak of popularity—perhaps even viewed as "charismatic" because of his success. Today we have a new national leader. President Bill Clinton. Some people attribute his election victory over the incumbent president to his sense of vision. Although not elected by a majority of votes. President Clinton may be viewed as "charismatic" because he has expressed a vision for our nation. Our nation's political transition over the past few years is in line with a theory of charismatic leadership by Boal and Bryson (1988) who distinguish the crisis-induced charismatic leader from the visionary. Former President Bush may be classified as a crisis-induced charismatic leader because of his actions during the Persian Gulf War, but one who was unable to transform that charisma into visionary charisma. That inability may well have cost him his reelection bid in 1992. Purpose of the Studv This study examines charismatic leadership in the context of Boal and Bryson's (1988) theory. Different effects on followers of crisis-induced versus visionary leaders are hypothesized in terms of follower performance and affective outcomes. Charismatic leaders can add value to organizations by way of their positive effects on followers. These effects ultimately translate into performance of organizational members as a collectivity, which may well be above and beyond the call of duty. In this regard charismatic leadership is argued to be a form of effective leadership. Yukl (1989) asserts that "the widespread fascination with leadership may be because it is such