Expert, coercive, legitimate, referent, and reward power bases as moderating variables upon the relationships between service, humility, and shared vision with affective organizational commitment and job satisfaction among members of the U.S. Navy

Only a sparse amount of empirical research exists regarding how servant leadership relates to organizational outcomes of affective organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Additionally, little if any empirical research exists regarding the role of power in any predictive relationships involving servant leadership. Based on these shortages of information, this study provides new and original findings that expand the fields of inquiry. Using subjects from various commands within the U.S. Navy, I conducted this study to (a) test the construct validity of Hale and Fields' (2007) servant leadership instrument through the use of confirmatory factor analysis; (b) examine the relationships between three predictor variables (service, humility, and vision) which scholars have related to servant leadership and the outcome variables of affective organizational commitment and job satisfaction; and (c) check for the effects of moderation by the bases of power including expert, coercive, reward, referent, and legitimate, as first suggested by French and Raven (1959). This present study validated Hale and Fields' servant leadership instrument, in that I confirmed the three factors previously observed by them (service, humility, and shared vision). All 18 items loaded on the appropriate factors with two items (Service 5 and 6) cross loading with humility. Further results indicate that (a) leaders who demonstrate service and shared vision contribute to affective organizational commitment; (b) leaders who demonstrate shared vision contribute to job satisfaction; (c) there exist positive moderating effects of higher levels of leaders' expert, reward, referent, and legitimate power and lower levels of leaders' coercive power resulting in stronger relationships between service, humility, and shared vision and affective organizational commitment; and (d) there exist positive moderating effects of higher levels of leaders' reward and legitimate power and lower levels of leaders' coercive, expert, and referent power resulting in stronger relationships between service, humility, and shared vision and job satisfaction.