Leader Power, Commitment, Satisfaction, Compliance, and Propensity to Leave a Job Among U.S. Accountants

Abstract The relationships of the bases of leader power (coercive, reward, legitimate, expert, and referent) to subordinates' organizational commitment, satisfaction with work, and attitudinal and behavioral compliance, and the relationships of the four latter variables to propensity to leave a job were investigated. Hierarchical regression analyses of data from a national random sample of 308 American accountants indicated that expert and referent power bases were positively correlated with commitment, but referent power base was positively correlated with satisfaction with work. Expert and referent power bases were positively correlated with attitudinal compliance, whereas legitimate and referent power bases were positively correlated with behavioral compliance. Commitment and satisfaction, in turn, were positively correlated with propensity to leave a job.