A Quantitative Study of the Augmentation Hypothesis of Transformational-Transactional Leadership

Abstract

Bass (1985) developed the social psychological framework of transformational-transactional leadership based on Burns’ (1978) discourse on leadership and concluded that both types of leadership are found within an individual. When the discussions later sprang around which type of leadership is more effective, Bass (1985) presented his assumption that when a leader exercises the transformational type of leadership that has bases on the transactional type, his/her leadership is augmented to be most effective. The present study empirically examined the augmentation hypothesis of transformational-transactional leadership, which has been frequently discussed but least put the discussions to the test. In this study, 105 participants were sampled from a Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed (parent) company and its three subsidiaries. As a result, the following three things became clear: (1) no augmentation effect was found when transactional leadership joined to transformation leadership, (2) an augmentation effect was found when transformational leadership joined to transactional leadership, and (3) the augmentation hypothesis was verified by this study. the present study.