The relationship between leadership behaviors and subordinates' job stress in Taiwan

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between leadership styles and subordinates' job stress in Taiwan. It was predicted that less supportive, less approachable, less communicative, more controlling leaders who use less delegation will have subordinates reporting more job stress; and that the "control" factor will be the strongest predictor of subordinates' job stress. Furthermore, it was hypothesized that overall leaders will tend to underestimate their subordinates' job stress, but that leaders who are trusted, approachable, and more communicative, will be more accurate in their perceptions of subordinates' job stress. A questionnaire was designed that included demographic items and measures of leadership style and job stress. Leadership style was measured using the Leadership Orientations scale (Bolman & Deal, 1997), and three factors extracted from the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire (Initiation, Consideration, and Tolerance of Freedom (Delegation)) (Stogdill, 1963; Stogdill, Goode & Day, 1962). The scale measuring job stress was the Perceived Job Stress Scale (modified from the Perceived Stress Scale, Cohen, Kamarck & Mermelstein, 1983). Data was collected from 174 complete work groups (e.g., 1 leader plus 4 subordinates) from Taiwanese companies. Results indicated that leader support, approachability, and communication are important predictors of subordinates' stress. A significant difference was found between leaders' rating of subordinate stress and the subordinates' ratings. Implications of the findings are discussed and future research directions are suggested.