Another interesting finding that emerged from the above analysis
is that employee responses to the leader’s authoritarianism vary
depending on the organizational context. Note that there is a much
higher percentage of Type 1 Authentic leaders (ABC) in the private
firm than in public schools (6.4% vs. 18.0%), and the satisfaction level
for Type 1 Authentic leaders (ABC) relative to Type 5 Selfless leaders
(aBC) was considerably lower in public schools than in the private firm.
These findings suggest that, in private firms, employees are more recep-
tive to authoritarianism by their managers, whereas, in public schools,
teachers are much less willing to accept a principal’s authoritarianism.
We speculate that the differential attitude toward authoritarianism may
be due to the different nature of authority in the two organizational
contexts. Unlike private firms where authority is derived from private
ownership and fully delegated to the management, both principals
and teachers are public servants hired by the government education
ministry through taxpayer revenues. The authority of the principal is
thus circumscribed by the regulations set by governmental agencies
and the professional and autonomous status of the teachers. In such
a context, authoritarianism by principals is more likely to be seen as
illegitimate and resented by the teachers. These findings point out that
the authoritarian dimension of PL is highly contingent on situational
factors. In addition to the subordinates’ authority orientation (i.e. tradi-
tionality) and their resourcedependenceonthe leader, the organizational
context also plays an important role in affecting how followers respond
to their leaders.
Future research directions
Thus far, we have reviewed research findings based on Farh and
Cheng’s (2000) PL model. In this section, we point out several areas
for future research. We begin by suggesting refinements in the meas-
urement of PL and then by calling for a multilevel approach to PL and
extending this research to other cultural contexts.
Revising the construct domains of PL
In the paper in which the PL model was originally introduced, the
specific behaviors identified for each PL dimension were based on case
studies of the management styles of owners/managers of overseas
192 Jiing-lih Farhet al.