Transformational and Transactional Leadership: An Examination of Managerial Cognition Among Spanish Upper Echelons

Transformational leadership predicts follower's satisfaction and performance beyond traditional forms of leadership. However, little is known about the beliefs system associated with transformational leaders. Taking a cognitive perspective, we examined how the managerial beliefs that executives hold about their followers relate to their perceived leadership style among a sample of 76 Presidents and CEO´s of Spain largest firms. The results support the idea that executives with a learning orientation are more likely to report a transformational leadership style; whereas executives with a performance goal orientation are more likely to report a transactional leadership style. We also found that self-rated transformational leaders hold stronger Theory Y beliefs than self-rated transactional leaders. Furthermore, we found that these mental associations are held to a stronger degree for executives with graduate degrees of formal education. These results are discussed in terms of their significance for transformational leadership theory and leadership development.