Situation-based measurement of the full range of leadership model — Development and validation of a situational judgment test

In response to calls for context-specificity in leadership research, we developed and validated a Situational Judgment Test of the Full Range of Leadership Model (SJT-FRLM). Three consecutive studies were conducted following the typical steps of test development. Study 1 served measure development and pilot testing: item stems were generated empirically, item responses were developed with a theory-driven approach, and pilot testing was based on a leader sample. Study 2 served to analyze construct- and criterion-related validity of the instrument. Moreover, an empirical scoring key was developed that weights each item response according to its relation with leadership effectiveness in each situation. In Study 3, we demonstrated incremental validity and interrater agreement. The test fills an important gap in literature because it not only has predictive validity above and beyond established measures, but also takes into account the contextual element of leadership.