Fiedler's contingency model suggests that leadership effectiveness depends on the match between:

Question

Accepted Answer

The leader's style and the favorableness of the situation. Fiedler's contingency model proposes that leadership effectiveness depends on the match between the leader's style (task-oriented or relationship-oriented, measured by the Least Preferred Coworker scale) and the favorableness of the situation. Situational favorableness is determined by leader-member relations, task structure, and position power.

A leader's intelligence and task complexity are important factors in leadership but are not the specific variables in Fiedler's model, which focuses on leadership style and situational favorableness. The number of followers and leader's experience may affect leadership in general but are not the key variables that Fiedler identified in his research. The organization's size and leader's age are demographic and structural factors not central to any major contingency model of leadership.

Fiedler's model is distinctive and important for the DSST exam because it suggests that a leader's basic style is relatively fixed. Rather than trying to change their style (as other theories suggest), leaders should be placed in situations that match their natural style, or the situation should be modified to fit the leader. This is a fundamentally different approach from the adaptability emphasized by situational leadership theory.

DSST Principles of Supervision: Question of the Day

Get a free DSST Principles of Supervision question every day

Ready for the full DSST Principles of Supervision? Earn 3 college credits.