A Test of a Path-Goal Motivational Theory of Leadership.

The major purpose of the present study is to determine whether the effects of leader initiating structure and consideration vary with the nature of the subordinate's task. In particular, the general hypothesis states that the intrinsic uncertainty or ambiguity of the task will moderate the relationship between leader behavior an subordinate role perceptions and satisfaction. Three hypotheses were tested in the present study: 1) The correlations between leader initiating structure and subordinate role ambiguity, satisfaction and path-goal expectancies will be moderated by degree of respondent task certainty. The higher the certainty the smaller will be: (1) the negative correlation with role ambiguity; and (2) the positive correlation with satisfaction and expectancies. 2) Leader consideration will have a positive covarying influence on the relationship between leader initiating structure and subordinate satisfaction and expectancies. Specifically, the correlation between initiating structure and the major dependent variables will be lower when recomputed with the effects of leader consideration partialled out. 3) Finally, an exploratory analysis was carried out to determine the role played by subordinate authoritarianism on the relationship between initiating structure, satisfaction, and task certainty.