Least-Preferred Coworker Scale

The Least-Preferred Coworker Scale (LPC) is a personality test developed by psychologist Fred Fiedler in the 1950s. The LPC is designed to measure a person's leadership style, and it is based on the idea that a person's leadership style is determined by their relationship with their least-preferred coworker.

The LPC is a 16-item questionnaire that asks respondents to rate their least-preferred coworker on a variety of dimensions, such as their friendliness, helpfulness, and cooperativeness. The scores on the LPC are then used to classify people into one of three leadership styles:

• Task-oriented leaders are people who are more concerned with getting the job done than with building relationships with their subordinates. They are typically more effective in situations where there is a clear goal and a well-defined path to achieving it.
• Relational-oriented leaders are people who are more concerned with building relationships with their subordinates than with getting the job done. They are typically more effective in situations where there is a need for cooperation and teamwork.
• Mixed-motive leaders are people who have a combination of task-oriented and relational-oriented leadership styles. They are typically effective in a variety of situations.

The LPC has been used in a variety of research studies, and it has been found to be a valid and reliable measure of leadership style. The LPC can be used to help people understand their own leadership style and to develop their leadership skills.

In addition to its use in research, the LPC has also been used in a variety of applied settings, such as in the selection of leaders and in the development of leadership training programs. The LPC can be a valuable tool for helping people to understand their own leadership style and to develop their leadership skills.