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Original Articles

Examining the Factor Structure of the MLQ

Published Online:September 01, 2006https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759.21.3.182

Abstract

Abstract. Over the last decade, the research dealing with transformational leadership put the emphasis on a more differentiated model of leadership. The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) assesses nine leadership facets. The instrument, though, is often criticized as the five transformational facets cannot be empirically distinguished and Contingent Reward - a transactional aspect - shows high correlations with the transformational scales. This study investigates the underlying factor structure of the MLQ 5X Short. Based on the fact that the proposed structure does not show a good model fit, a parallel analysis was conducted in order to determine the number of factors to retain. Results suggest that three factors should be extracted. Subsequently, a three-factor solution is extracted from a second sample, and tested on a third. The examination of the augmentation effect shows that, although nearly two thirds of the items were omitted, only 14% of variance explained in the MLQ Success criterion is lost.

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