The social context of leader–subordinate relations: An investigation of the effects of group cohesiveness

Abstract

Questionnaire data (e.g., Job Descriptive Index) from 308 managerial and clerical employees (average age 32.7 yrs) in 43 work groups in a public utility were subjected to moderated regression and subgroup moderator analyses. Group cohesiveness negatively moderated the relationship between leader initiating structure and subordinate role clarity, satisfaction, and self-rated performance and positively moderated the relationship between leader consideration and the same dependent variables. In the low-cohesiveness subgroup, leader initiating structure was positively related to all 3 criterion variables, whereas in the high-cohesiveness subgroup, leader consideration was related to all 3 variables. Based on these results, suggestions are made for investigating other group variables affecting leadership phenomena. It is also suggested that research might study individual- and group-directed leader behaviors within their social context, rather than treating dyadic- and group-based approaches as mutually exclusive. (52 ref) (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)