Academic leaders at managerial universities have been confronted with significant challenges of recruiting and sustaining faculty members who are both committed to their work and satisfied with it. This study investigated the mediating effect of research self-efficacy and job stress on the relationship between transformational leadership and working attitudes. A questionnaire survey was conducted with 1,498 faculty members in total from 26 Chinese research universities. The results indicated the significant positive impact of academic leaders' transformational leadership on the positive working attitudes of Chinese university faculty members. They also indicated both positive and negative mediating effects of university faculty members' research self-efficacy and perceived job stress on the relationship between transformational leadership and working attitudes.