A Meta-Analysis of the Relationship between Leadership Styles and Employee Creative Performance: A Self-Determination Perspective

Abstract

Leadership plays a crucial role in fostering employee innovation. Which kind of leadership style is more closely associated with higher levels of employee innovation? This question remains a matter of debate in empirical research. To answer this question, this study proposes a theoretical framework based on self-determination theory (SDT) to explain the variation in correlation coefficients between different leadership styles and employee innovation. Using meta-analysis, this study synthesizes evidence from 432 independent empirical studies (229 in Chinese and 203 in English, with a total sample size of 161,599) to test the hypotheses. The results show that: (1) Transactional leadership, ethical leadership, transformational leadership, servant leadership, leader-member exchange (LMX), empowering leadership, inclusive leadership, and authentic leadership all have significant positive correlations with employee creative performance, with the correlation increasing; (2) factors such as individualism, the method of performance appraisal, the time point of data collection, the measurement of leadership styles, the measurement of employee creative performance, and publication language partially moderate the relationship between leadership styles and employee creative performance. The results align with the theoretical forecasting and contribute to the development of SDT. More importantly, this study provides key practical insights for managers by suggesting that employing the appropriate leadership style can effectively enhance employee creative performance.

Keywords

leadership style / self-determination theory (SDT) / employee creative performance / meta-analysis

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2024 Higher Education Press