THE USE OF TRAIT LISTINGS TO MEASURE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MANAGERIAL BEHAVIOR UNDER DIFFERENT LEVELS OF TASK COMPLEXITY

Previous research has indicated that information about leaders is prim arily stored in memory in trait form. Hence, it was hypothesized that a trait listing technique would be more accurate than traditional meth ods in eliciting recommendations about leadership style. Sixty-four ev ening MBA students made recommendations about appropriate managerial b ehavioral under four different types of relative task complexity. Accu racy was judged by comparing the recommendations with a previous study that varied relative task complexity and rates of order-giving. Recom mendations made by the students using a trait-listing technique accura tely matched the amount of directive behavior to the situation. Recomm endations made by the students using more traditional close-ended item s, however, failed to reflect the complex relationship between manager ial behavior and relative task complexity.