Consideration and initiating structure: Are they basic dimensions of leader behavior?

Although consideration and initiating structure are widely accepted as basic dimensions of leader behavior and scales measuring these dimensions have been employed in research for almost 30 years, the validity of the scales and the interpretation of the factors on which they are based were never fully tested. In 2 recent studies it has been indicated that the factors are multi-dimensional and probably do not represent fundamental dimensions of leader behavior. Furthermore, the consideration and initiating structure scales of the LBDQ and LBD-XII are heavily contaminated by judgments of desirability and dynamism, rendering them unsuitable as descriptions of behavior in research involving similar judgment variables such as job satisfaction.