{"id":{"repo_id":"uwo","oai_identifier":"oai:uwo.scholaris.ca:20.500.14721/37434"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uwo/oai:uwo.scholaris.ca:20.500.14721/37434","repository":{"repo_id":"uwo","name":"Western University","base_url":"https://uwo.scholaris.ca/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Developing and Validating a Measure of Transformational Followership","abstract":"Leadership and followership are inherently interdependent, yet research has primarily focused on the unilateral influence of leaders. To advance a more balanced perspective and highlight how followers can positively contribute to the leadership process, I conceptualized and validated a measure of transformational followership. Transformational followership represents leaders’ perceptions of effective followership tendencies that enable productive, generative, and motivating engagements with and for their leader. After conducting a comprehensive literature review of both followership and leadership research, I created an initial item pool which was then subjected to rigorous testing across three distinct phases. Phase 1 leveraged feedback from organizational leaders (Think Aloud Protocol; N = 8) and academics (Expert Panel Review; N = 8) to assess the content validity of this new construct. Phase 2 focused on establishing the structural validity of the transformational followership scale using two separate samples of leaders (N = 295 and N = 327) recruited online through Prolific Academic. Finally, Phase 3 entailed a prospective design whereby leaders filled out the transformational followership scale with reference to one of their followers at three separate timepoints (N = 207). This third study assessed the temporal consistency of the new measure, aided in establishing an initial nomological network (i.e., follower proactivity, leader-member exchange, and leader attitudes), and tested several models positioning transformational followership as a mediator in the relation between follower behaviour and leader attitudes toward their own work. Cumulatively, these three phases of scale validation helped identify a three-factor model of transformational followership and provided strong evidence for the measurement quality of the new scale. Further, the results of Study 3 demonstrated that transformational followership acts as a link from follower proactivity to leader engagement and satisfaction. This work supports the advancement of followership research by demonstrating that followers can positively influence their leaders and provides a psychometrically valid scale that can be used in future research aiming to capture the nature and impact of that influence.","abstract_html":"Leadership and followership are inherently interdependent, yet research has primarily focused on the unilateral influence of leaders. To advance a more balanced perspective and highlight how followers can positively contribute to the leadership process, I conceptualized and validated a measure of transformational followership. Transformational followership represents leaders’ perceptions of effective followership tendencies that enable productive, generative, and motivating engagements with and for their leader. After conducting a comprehensive literature review of both followership and leadership research, I created an initial item pool which was then subjected to rigorous testing across three distinct phases. Phase 1 leveraged feedback from organizational leaders (Think Aloud Protocol; N = 8) and academics (Expert Panel Review; N = 8) to assess the content validity of this new construct. Phase 2 focused on establishing the structural validity of the transformational followership scale using two separate samples of leaders (N = 295 and N = 327) recruited online through Prolific Academic. Finally, Phase 3 entailed a prospective design whereby leaders filled out the transformational followership scale with reference to one of their followers at three separate timepoints (N = 207). This third study assessed the temporal consistency of the new measure, aided in establishing an initial nomological network (i.e., follower proactivity, leader-member exchange, and leader attitudes), and tested several models positioning transformational followership as a mediator in the relation between follower behaviour and leader attitudes toward their own work. Cumulatively, these three phases of scale validation helped identify a three-factor model of transformational followership and provided strong evidence for the measurement quality of the new scale. Further, the results of Study 3 demonstrated that transformational followership acts as a link from follower proactivity to leader engagement and satisfaction. This work supports the advancement of followership research by demonstrating that followers can positively influence their leaders and provides a psychometrically valid scale that can be used in future research aiming to capture the nature and impact of that influence.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Baird, Noelle"],"institution":"The University of Western Ontario","degree_name":"Ph D","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Robertson, Jennifer L.","Benson, Alex J."],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2023,"date_issued":"2023-10-25","date_published":"2023-10-25","updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:56:14Z","subjects":["followership","leadership","leader-follower dynamics","scale validation"],"languages":["en_ca"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/37434","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Robertson, Jennifer L.","Benson, Alex J."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Baird, Noelle"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2025-07-10T21:35:02Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2025-07-10T21:35:02Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2023-10-25"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["The University of Western Ontario"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph D"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["followership","leadership","leader-follower dynamics","scale validation"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en_ca"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/37434"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["The thesis cover page in the PDF document includes references to Western University’s previous institutional repository platform, known as Scholarship@Western, and links to that platform (beginning with ir.lib.uwo.ca). In citing or referring to this thesis, use the DOI or handle from this page instead. Sample citation: Author name, \"Thesis title.\" (Year). Western University Open Repository. https://doi.org/10.71858/123456."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Leadership and followership are inherently interdependent, yet research has primarily focused on the unilateral influence of leaders. To advance a more balanced perspective and highlight how followers can positively contribute to the leadership process, I conceptualized and validated a measure of transformational followership. Transformational followership represents leaders’ perceptions of effective followership tendencies that enable productive, generative, and motivating engagements with and for their leader. After conducting a comprehensive literature review of both followership and leadership research, I created an initial item pool which was then subjected to rigorous testing across three distinct phases. Phase 1 leveraged feedback from organizational leaders (Think Aloud Protocol; N = 8) and academics (Expert Panel Review; N = 8) to assess the content validity of this new construct. Phase 2 focused on establishing the structural validity of the transformational followership scale using two separate samples of leaders (N = 295 and N = 327) recruited online through Prolific Academic. Finally, Phase 3 entailed a prospective design whereby leaders filled out the transformational followership scale with reference to one of their followers at three separate timepoints (N = 207). This third study assessed the temporal consistency of the new measure, aided in establishing an initial nomological network (i.e., follower proactivity, leader-member exchange, and leader attitudes), and tested several models positioning transformational followership as a mediator in the relation between follower behaviour and leader attitudes toward their own work. Cumulatively, these three phases of scale validation helped identify a three-factor model of transformational followership and provided strong evidence for the measurement quality of the new scale. Further, the results of Study 3 demonstrated that transformational followership acts as a link from follower proactivity to leader engagement and satisfaction. This work supports the advancement of followership research by demonstrating that followers can positively influence their leaders and provides a psychometrically valid scale that can be used in future research aiming to capture the nature and impact of that influence."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Developing and Validating a Measure of Transformational Followership"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Robertson, Jennifer L.","Benson, Alex J."],"dc:creator":["Baird, Noelle"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2025-07-10T21:35:02Z"],"dc:date.available":["2025-07-10T21:35:02Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2023-10-25"],"dc:description":["The thesis cover page in the PDF document includes references to Western University’s previous institutional repository platform, known as Scholarship@Western, and links to that platform (beginning with ir.lib.uwo.ca). In citing or referring to this thesis, use the DOI or handle from this page instead. Sample citation: Author name, \"Thesis title.\" (Year). Western University Open Repository. https://doi.org/10.71858/123456."],"dc:description.abstract":["Leadership and followership are inherently interdependent, yet research has primarily focused on the unilateral influence of leaders. To advance a more balanced perspective and highlight how followers can positively contribute to the leadership process, I conceptualized and validated a measure of transformational followership. Transformational followership represents leaders’ perceptions of effective followership tendencies that enable productive, generative, and motivating engagements with and for their leader. After conducting a comprehensive literature review of both followership and leadership research, I created an initial item pool which was then subjected to rigorous testing across three distinct phases. Phase 1 leveraged feedback from organizational leaders (Think Aloud Protocol; N = 8) and academics (Expert Panel Review; N = 8) to assess the content validity of this new construct. Phase 2 focused on establishing the structural validity of the transformational followership scale using two separate samples of leaders (N = 295 and N = 327) recruited online through Prolific Academic. Finally, Phase 3 entailed a prospective design whereby leaders filled out the transformational followership scale with reference to one of their followers at three separate timepoints (N = 207). This third study assessed the temporal consistency of the new measure, aided in establishing an initial nomological network (i.e., follower proactivity, leader-member exchange, and leader attitudes), and tested several models positioning transformational followership as a mediator in the relation between follower behaviour and leader attitudes toward their own work. Cumulatively, these three phases of scale validation helped identify a three-factor model of transformational followership and provided strong evidence for the measurement quality of the new scale. Further, the results of Study 3 demonstrated that transformational followership acts as a link from follower proactivity to leader engagement and satisfaction. This work supports the advancement of followership research by demonstrating that followers can positively influence their leaders and provides a psychometrically valid scale that can be used in future research aiming to capture the nature and impact of that influence."],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/37434"],"dc:language.iso":["en_ca"],"dc:publisher":["The University of Western Ontario"],"dc:subject":["followership","leadership","leader-follower dynamics","scale validation"],"dc:title":["Developing and Validating a Measure of Transformational Followership"],"dc:type":["thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph D"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:56:14Z"}