The role of occupation in leadership behavior and follower outcome relationships: a scoping review and exploratory meta-analysis

In this research, we aimed to explore the often-overlooked role of follower’s occupation in leadership behavior studies. Through a scoping review of 1,083 articles, we found that 23% of leadership studies explicitly considered occupation as a contextual factor. Moreover, we uncovered that there are patterns with respect to which leadership behaviors were studied within different occupational groups. To further scrutinize the role of occupations in research on leadership behaviors and follower outcomes relationships, we conducted an exploratory meta-analysis ( k = 98), which revealed that some leadership behaviors correlate differently with follower outcomes depending on occupational context. Our empirical work highlights the need for future research to adopt standardized occupational classifications, and to integrate occupation-as-context in study designs by utilizing alternative sampling methods. Practically, our findings can guide leaders, organizational practitioners, and educators in tailoring leadership development programs to enhance effectiveness across diverse occupational contexts.