Abstract

Purpose– Based on a socio-cognitive approach to leadership, this research investigated how workers’ past experience of pseudo-transformational leadership affected their perception of the current manager’s transformational leadership and trust in the current manager.

Design– The research employed a cross-sectional online survey to gather data from 507 employed adults, which was subsequently analyzed using mediation analysis.

Findings– The study revealed that strong past pseudo-transformational leadership was connected with perception of a weaker transformational leadership of the current manager. The study also indicates that past pseudo-transformational leadership has an aversive effect on cognitive trust in the current manager and that this effect is mediated by perception of the current manager’s transformational leadership.

Originality– Employing a socio-cognitive paradigm, this research pioneers a novel investigation into the impact of past encounters with pseudo-transformational leadership on the current perception of managerial transformational qualities and trust.