Marie Curie was suffering from aplastic anemia due to extensive exposure to radiation. In aplastic anemia the blood cells stop producing new blood cells (including all blood types). The condition leaves you fatigued and more prone to infections and uncontrolled bleeding. Many of us are familiar with Curie`s radiation-induced health problems and the narrative that they resulted from her neglect, or at least her ignorance, of the risks. The story goes that she failed to take precautions while working in the laboratory because she was devoted scientist who was concerned about others but not herself. Although Curie certainly possessed those qualities, she was also among the first to establish radiation protection measures in the lab and to raise concerns about the use of radium in medicine by unqualified people.
The aim of this research is understanding whether being transactional or transformational leader has a different effect on the psychological safety due to the quality of the leader-member exchanges entailed by each of these leadership approaches.
Research questions
Main research question
What is the relationship between transformational, respectively transactional, leadership LMX and psychological safety?
Sub-questions:
1) What is the relationship between on the one hand transformational, respectively transactional, leadership and psychological safety on the other hand?
2) What is the relationship between on the one hand transformational, respectively transactional, leadership and LMX on the other hand?
3) To what extent does LMX mediate the relationship between transformational/transactional leadership and psychological safety?
Concepts
Psychological safety
In this study’s context, psychological safety describes the perception that an individual has regarding the consequences of interpersonal risks in their working environment. In other words, it consists of beliefs on how other people will react when an individual exposes himself by asking questions, reporting an error, asking for feedback or making a proposal of a new idea (Edmondson, 2004). At individual level, psychological safety is associated with knowledge sharing, employee engagement, and employee voice (Edmonson & Lei, Psychological Safety: The History, Renaissance, and Future of an Interpersonal Construct, 2014). At group level, Edmonson (2004; 1999) argues that by facilitating error reporting, help seeking, and feedback seeking, psychological safety mediates team learning behaviours.
Transformational leadership
Transformational leadership is centred on the leader increasing followers’ levels of motivation and performance (Bass B. M., 1985). It was suggested by Shamir et al. (1993) that charismatic–transformational leaders transform the self-concepts of their followers. These leaders bridge the social and personal identification of the followers with the goals of the organisation, this way enhancing followers’ feelings of involvement, cohesiveness, commitment, potency, and performance (Shamir, House, & Arthur, 1993).
Transactional leadership
Before the conceptualisation of the transformational leadership, transactional contingent reinforcement was considered the main component of effective leadership. This approach is characterised by a clear set of expectations whose achievement offers recognition. In this situation, followers agree with or accept the leader either in exchange of a praise or in order to avoid disciplinary action that could be taken against them (Bass B. M., 1985). When in its more corrective form, this approach is labelled as active management by exception; in this scenario, the
