Transformational leadership in context: A meta-analysis of 40 years of research

Despite transformational leadership's (TFL) prominence as a universally effective leadership approach for almost 4 decades, theoretical tensions persist regarding its contextual contingency and temporal stability. To address these tensions, we build on Johns' (2006) conceptualization of context and examine whether occupation, location, and time shape the use and effectiveness of TFL. Synthesizing 625 samples conducted globally over 4 decades (937 TFL-outcome correlations; N = 200,732), we meta-analytically assess whether TFL's foundational assumptions of generalizability hold or whether its use and effectiveness depend on broader contextual features. Results show that while TFL continues to positively predict attitudinal (e.g., commitment, trust) and performance (e.g., task, creative) outcomes, significant contextual differences exist. Specifically, TFL levels and effects vary by occupational (i.e., leader position and job type), cultural, and temporal contexts, with mixed support for compensation versus congruence perspectives. Notably, moderator effects vary across outcome domains, with occupational and cultural moderators exerting stronger effects on attitudinal outcomes than on performance outcomes. These patterns suggest that the mechanisms underlying TFL effects differ across outcome domains and challenge the assumption that transformational leaders universally motivate followers to go beyond expectations. These findings extend TFL theory by clarifying its boundary conditions and highlighting the importance of integrating omnibus contextual features into TFL models. Practically, our study informs evidence-based leadership development by underscoring that transformational approaches are not universally applicable and require contextual tailoring to maximize their effectiveness. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).