Is charisma hyper-romanticism? empirical evidence from new data and a meta-analysis

In prior research, mixed results were obtained with respect to the relationship between Romance of Leadership and the perception of transformational leadership. In this paper, we first present new studies originating from different contexts (students and employees) and different countries and, second, we meta-analyse these studies together with prior studies in order to shed light on the relationship between Romance of Leadership and the perception of transformational leadership. In the meta-analysis, we considered the following moderators: field/employees vs. experimental/student samples, geographical region, and type of assessment of transformational leadership. The results indicate a positive relationship between Romance of Leadership and the perception of transformational leadership. Only the moderating effect of region of origin was significant. In line with social constructivism and information processing approaches of leadership, our results indicate that the perception of leadership comprises more than merely the actual behaviour the leader exhibits.