Date of Conferral

2018

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Jennifer Rounds-Bryant

Abstract

Prior studies examined the importance of good leadership skills for those in leadership positions; however, this study addressed a gap in literature regarding how leadership characteristics in supervised employees can impact job satisfaction. The purpose of this quantitative study was to assess the influence of authentic leadership on leader, coworker, task, and general job satisfaction. Authentic leadership emerged from the theory of positive psychology which surmises that self-growth coincides with a focus on the development of others and is based on the premise that individual improvement is gained by focusing on positive personality aspects. Online recruitment using a participant pool and social media was used to sample adults who have been employed either full or part-time, can read English, and have been under supervision while at work. Participants (N = 138) completed the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire and the Job Descriptive Index. Research questions were addressed by using 4 logistic regression models to show the relationship between the independent variable (authentic leadership) and each of the 4 dependent variables (coworker satisfaction, general job satisfaction, task satisfaction, and leader satisfaction). The results of this study were that a significant association existed between authentic leadership and coworker satisfaction, as well as general job satisfaction, but not between authentic leadership and task satisfaction or leader satisfaction. Implications for positive social change include the improvement of human resource processes. Human resource professionals could use authentic leadership in employee recruitment by gearing onboarding assessments to authenticity constructs such as ethical conduct and transparency. In addition, employee training designed around authentic traits may reduce job-related stress, absenteeism, and job turnover.

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