A cross-cultural test of the ‘five-factor model of personality and transformational leadership’

Considering the impact of culture on the generalization of leadership theory, we offer a replication of Judge and Bono's [Judge, T.A., Bono, J.E. (2000), Five-factor model of personality and transformational leadership. J Appl Psychol 85 (5) 751–765.] study “Five-Factor Model of Personality and Transformational Leadership” to examine the applicability of the findings in the Chinese culture. Our study shows that certain personality traits positively associated with transformational leadership behavior in the North American context are not evident in the Chinese environment. Hofstede's four cultural dimensions, cultural tightness and self-monitoring theory are used to explain the differences between our outcomes and those of Judge and Bono.