Ky. Chan et F. Drasgow, Toward a theory of individual differences and leadership: Understanding the motivation to lead, J APPL PSYC, 86(3), 2001, pp. 481-498
A broad, integrative theoretical framework for understanding the relationsh
ip between individual differences and various leader behaviors is presented
; it proposes a new individual-differences construct called the motivation
to lead (MTL). A large-scale study using 3 samples in different occupationa
l and cultural contexts shows 3 factors underlying MTL, namely, affective-i
dentity, noncalculative, and social-normative MTL. A parsimonious model of
antecedents to MTL is developed through hierarchical regression modeling an
d is cross-validated using confirmatory latent variable modeling. MTL is sh
own to provide incremental validity over other predictors such as general c
ognitive ability, values, personality, and attitudes in the prediction of 2
behavioral measures of leadership potential. Findings are discussed with r
eference to the theoretical framework proposed for understanding individual
differences in leader behavior.