STRESS AND LEADER BEHAVIOR.

The situational approach in leadership research is based on the belief that to obtain effective performance, different styles of leadership are required in different situations. Following the situational approach, Fiedler's (1967) contingency model postulates that effective group performance is contingent upon the interaction of leadership style as measured by the esteem for the least preferred co-worker (LPC) and the favorableness of the situation for the leader. The purpose of this study was to test the idea that the perceived stressfulness of a situation moderates the behavior of high and low LPC individuals, and thereby helps to explain the inconsistent findings reported by several researchers regarding the behavior of high and low LPC individuals. A conceptual model was presented which integrated the findings of Mitchell (1969) to represent a non-stressful situation and of Fiedler (1967) to represent a stressful situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]