Transformational leadership, trust, and follower outcomes: a moderated mediation model

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the influences of transformational leadership behaviors on followers’ task performance and organizational citizenship behaviors, the potential mediating role of affective trust and moderating effect of follower tenure with leader in these relationships. Design/methodology/approach The authors collected survey data from 197 employees from various organizations in Turkey, operating in several sectors. To test the relationships among study variables, the authors followed the moderated mediation procedure suggested by Hayes (2013). Findings The findings indicated that transformational leadership behaviors have significant positive effects on both followers’ task performance and organizational citizenship behaviors. Furthermore, mediational analyses showed that affective trust mediated the relationship between transformational leadership behaviors and followers’ task performance. Moreover, the moderation analysis shows that the effect of transformational leadership behaviors on affective trust depended on leader–follower dyadic tenure, with the effect of transformational leadership behaviors being greater at high level of leader–follower dyadic tenure. Research limitations/implications This study provides evidence of the positive relationship of transformational leadership behaviors with followers’ affective trust at work and task performance. Such knowledge suggests that improving leaders’ skills and capabilities in terms of transformational leadership through training might lead organizations to work more effectively. Originality/value This study contributes to the existing literature by showing the importance of affective trust, explaining why transformational leaders can motivate and influence followers to achieve a higher performance. In addition, this research provides knowledge about transformational leadership effectiveness in developing countries, mainly in Turkey.