Employees’ Expectations of Leadership Style and Job Satisfaction : Generational Differences in the Icelandic Labor Market

Leadership behavior has been identified as a key factor influencing employees’ job satisfaction and well-being. Previous research has primarily focused on employees’ perceptions of their current leaders rather than their expectations of leadership, that is, expectations regarding leader behavior. The present study examined employees’ leadership expectations, conceptualized through transformational and transactional leadership, and their associations with job satisfaction, as well as whether these associations differed across generational groups in the Icelandic labor market. Data were collected using an online self-report questionnaire from 132 participants with work experience in Iceland. The measures included job satisfaction and scales assessing expectations and perceptions of leadership, based on the Full Range Leadership Model, which includes both transformational and transactional leadership. The results indicated that both transformational and transactional leadership expectations were positively associated with job satisfaction. When examined simultaneously, only expectations of transactional leadership significantly predicted job satisfaction. When perceptions of current leadership were included, perceived transformational leadership was associated with higher job satisfaction, whereas perceived transactional leadership was not. Significant differences was not found across generational groups. These findings suggest that employees’ perceptions of their current leader may play a more central role in shaping job satisfaction than expectations alone, highlighting the importance of aligning leadership practices with employees’ expectations. Keywords: leadership expectations, perceived leadership, transformational leadership, transactional leadership, job satisfaction, generational differences

Author dc:creator

• Marta Bríet Aðalsteinsdóttir 2002-

Contributors dc:contributor

• Háskólinn í Reykjavík

• Sálfræði
• Leiðtogar
• Starfsánægja
• Psychology
• Leadership
• Job satisfaction

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1946/53466

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:skemman.is:1946/53466