Usefulness of leadership behavior and social power variables in predicting job tension, performance, and turnover of nursing employees

Abstract

Investigated with 216 19–65 yr old nurses from a metropolitan hospital relationships of head nurses' leadership behavior (Form XII of the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire) and social power variables with staff members' job tension, performance, and terminations. A regression model explained significant portions of variance in these criterion variables. Leader consideration was inversely associated with tension and terminations but also with job performance. Initiating structure had a positive relationship with terminations. Social power variables, particularly reward and expert power, were useful in predicting job tension. The subordinates' personality attribute of locus of control (Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale) did not appear to moderate any relationships, but task structure had a significant interactive effect with expert and coercive power in predicting terminations. A comparison of these findings with other predictive models indicates the need to examine a comprehensive set of predictor variables in analyzing these criterion variables. (36 ref) (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)