Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire (LBDQ)

"The Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire (LBDQ) provides a technique whereby group members may describe the leader behavior of designated leaders in formal organizations. The LBDQ contains items, each of which describes a specific way in which a leader may behave.

"The respondent indicates the frequency with which he perceives the leader to engage in each type of behavior by marking one of five adverbs: Always, often, occasionally, seldom, never. These responses are obtained from the members of the leader’s immediate work-group, and are scored on two dimensions of leader behavior. For each dimension, the scores from the several group members are ten averaged to yield an index of the leaders behavior. For each dimension, the scores from the several group members are then averaged to yield an index of the leader’s behavior in respect to that dimension.

"The LBDQ was developed by the staff of the Personnel Research Board, the Ohio State University, as one project of the Ohio State Leadership Studies, directed by Dr. Carroll L. Shartle. Hemphill and Coons (14) constructed the original form of the questionnaire; and Halpin and Winer (11), in reporting the development of an Air Force adaptation of the instrument, identified Initiating Structure and Consideration as two fundamental dimensions of leader behavior. These dimensions were identified on the basis of a factor analysis of the responses of 300 B-29 crew members who described the leader behavior of their 52 aircraft commanders.

"Initiating Structure and Consideration accounted for approximately 34 to 50 per cent respectively of the common variance. In a subsequent study based upon a sample of 249 aircraft commanders, the correlation between the scores on the two dimensions was found to be .38. Initiating Structure refers to the leader’s behavior in delineating the relationship between himself and the members of his group, and in endeavoring to establish well-defined patterns of organization, channels of communication, and ways of getting the job done. Consideration refers to behavior indicative of friendship, mutual trust, respect, and warmth in relationship between the leader and members of the group." (Text copied with permission from Halpin, A. W.'s "Manual for the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire")

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