The Effect of Leadership Style Upon Performance and Adjustment in Volunteer Teams Operating in a Stressful Foreign Environment

摘要

This study considered the joint effects of leadership style and environmental stress upon group performance and individual adjustment in small volunteer groups. These groups performed public health and community development work in small isolated villages in Central America. Fiedler's Least Preferred Coworker scale (LPC) was used as a measure of leadership style while performance and adjustment measures were obtained from a number of questionnaires and rating scales. Results showed that the task-oriented, low LPC leaders were more effective in the favorable and very unfavorable situations, whereas the person-oriented high LPC leaders were more effective in situations of intermediate favorableness. In villages where the external stress was minimal, the task-oriented (low LPC) leaders had groups which were relatively better adjusted than groups having relationship-oriented (high LPC) leaders. However, in villages where external stress was high, this relationship between leadership style and group adjustment was reversed. Under conditions of high stress, relationship-oriented leaders had groups which were relatively better adjusted.