This study focuses on two important variables, employee affect and
transformational leadership behavior, as critical predictors of successful
organizational change and the underlying psychological process through
which these effects occur. Our findings, obtained from a longitudinal field
research setting and design, clearly support the hypothesized relationships
between employee initial positive and negative affective experiences and
their commitment and behavioral reactions to change, in the initial and
later phases of change. The results also show that managers’ transformational
leadership behaviors were both positively and negatively related to
positive and negative affect, respectively, among their employees, which
in turn related to greater commitment to change as well as to more supportive,
more creative, and less resistant employee behaviors during organizational
change. We hope that this research will encourage future
investigation of the role played by these two potential determinants of
change commitment and the identified psychological process underlying
effective organizational change.