Correlates of Leadership Behavior at Two Managerial Levels in a Mental Institution1

Relationships between leadership behavior for first- and second-level managers and several measures of employee performance and satisfaction were investigated in a state school for the mentally retarded. Four leadership dimensions and a modified fifth dimension, all from the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire-Form XII were used. Three of these measures were highly intercorrelated and were combined into a “Considerate Influence” dimension. This dimension was significantly related to a number of employee criteria at the first managerial level and about one-fifth as many criteria at the second level. The other two leadership dimensions had very few significant relationships. Second-level leadership in combination with first-level leadership in a number of cases significantly increased relationships for Considerate Influence beyond separate treatment of first- and second-level leadership, while such was not generally true for the other leadership dimensions.