The present study introduces the newly developed leadership attributions taxonomy and measurement scale. We argue that the attributions employees use to explain the motivations behind their leader’s behavior ought to strongly influence the outcomes of leadership processes. We conceptualized two commitment-oriented leadership attributions (employee well-being enhancement and employee performance support), two control-oriented leadership attributions (cost reduction and employee exploitation), as well as an external attribution (organizational influence). We developed and validated a measurement scale in two studies that supported the proposed five-factor solution. Examining the intercorrelations between the newly established measurement scale and the proposed nomological network yielded strong evidence for construct validity. Correlation patterns further suggested that the proposed leadership attributions can serve as a meaningful tool to gain a more nuanced picture of employees’ perceptions of leaders compared to widely used leadership style constructs.
