The effect of leadership on follower moral identity: Does transformational/transactional style make a difference?

The goal of this article is to study the effects of transformational versus transactional leadership behavior on how followers report their level of moral identity. Using field survey data (n = 672) and experimental data (n = 225), the authors found that transformational leadership and transactional leadership (including contingent reward and active management-by-exception) have a positive effect on priming follower moral identity. In addition, results also revealed that transformational leadership behavior has a larger positive effect on follower moral identity than transactional leadership. Furthermore, this study established the preliminary construct validity of a scale of moral identity. The theoretical implications, practical implications, and future research recommendations of these results are discussed.