Past experience of pseudo-transformational leadership, perception of the current manager's transformational leadership and trust in current manager

Purpose – Based on a socio-cognitive approach to leadership, this research aims to investigate 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/methodology/approach – 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 a perception of 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/value – 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.