Leader Attributions and Evaluations: Effects of Locus of Control, Supervisory Control, and Task Control

Abstract

This article describes a laboratory study which tested some of the core propositions of the attributional model of leader-subordinate relations and examined some extensions to the model. It was expected that internal-external locus of control (LOC), supervisory control, and task control would moderate the attribution-evaluation process. Further, supervisors whose LOC was situationally congruent were expected to base their judgements on personal information, while supervisors in other situations were expected to prefer base-rate information. One hundred twenty-eight subjects participated in the study, supervising work groups under varying conditions of supervisory and task control. Results supported the attributional model, but provided only limited support for the congruency hypothesis. Subjects appeared to have responded to subordinate performance in an impressionistic fashion, related to on-the-spot decision-making.