A Test of the Vroom-Yetton Normative Model of Leadership

Conducted a test of V. H. Vroom and P. W. Yetton's (1973) model of leadership behavior through a procedure that manipulated decision-process and situation attributes and did not rely on leader self-reports. 276 university business students were randomly formed into 4-person decision-making groups composed of a leader, 2 subordinates, and an observer. Each group attempted to solve 5 decision-making problems and was told to use different decision processes of the model for each problem. Evidence was found for the validity of the model: Decisions made with processes in the feasible set were significantly more effective than decisions made with processes outside the feasible set. Of the 105 decisions in which the leader's behavior agreed with the feasible set, 51 were effective, whereas only 31 of 87 decisions outside the feasible set were effective. Of the 7 rules underlying the model, 1 of 3 quality rules and 3 of 4 acceptance rules had effects as predicted.