Integrating leadership research: a meta analytical test of Yukl's meta categories of leadership
The purpose of this paper is to test the theoretical proposition, put forward by Yukl et al. (2002) that the leadership constructs of transformational and transactional leadership, laissez faire, consideration, and initiating structure can be arranged into three meta categories of leadership, namely, relations, task, and change oriented leadership.,After a comprehensive literature search, 1,402 correlations from 286 sources were obtained which referred to the above mentioned leadership constructs and outcome criteria of effective leadership.,It was found that three meta categories of leadership (i.e. relations, task, and change oriented leadership) were sufficient to explain the leadership constructs of transformational and transactional leadership, laissez faire, consideration, and initiating structure. Moreover, it was also found that change oriented leadership was most effective in predicting the job satisfaction of followers. In contrast, relations oriented leadership accounted for most of the variance in both commitment and job performance.,In combination, these results allow for a more comprehensive, integrative description of effective leadership behavior.,The results have implications for leadership assessment and development as well as leader selection and feedback.,Applying Occam's razor, and in contrast to the majority of prior leadership studies, the present meta analytical study provided evidence that three categories of leadership behaviors allow for a precise and comprehensive description of effective leadership behavior.