The Relationship of Gender and Perceived Sex Role Identity to the Leadership Style, Range, and Adaptability of Selected Graduate Students PDF Download

Author: James Keith Wall
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Graduate students
Languages : en
Pages : 242

Get Book Here

Book Description
This study examined the relationship and strength of association of the two independent variables of gender (male, female) and perceived sex role identity (masculine, androgynous, feminine, and undifferentiated) on the leadership style, leadership range (number of back-up styles), and leadership adaptability (effectiveness) of nonforeign graduate students at a Land Grant Institution. A sex role scale (The Personal Attribute Questionnaire) and a leadership scale (The Leader Effectiveness and Adaptability Description) were administered to a randomly selected sample of 700 (350 males, 350 females) graduate students. Usable responses were obtained from 65 percent (455) of the subjects. Chi-square, Cramer's V, and lambda analyses were performed on the categorical data. A significant relationship (.05 level) and low strength of association was found between males and females and their selection of a primary leadership style and their leadership range or the number of support styles. Males tended to select an instrumental (task oriented) and females an expressive (relationship oriented) primary style and males in this study tended to utilize a broader range of back-up or support styles. No significant difference or strength of relationship was found between gender and effectiveness. In terms of perceived sex role identity alone, no significant difference or strength of relationship was found in leadership style, range, or effectiveness. When gender and sex role identity were combined, stronger significant differences were found in the selection of a primary leadership style (.05 to .01) and leadership range (.05 to .02). Also, when combined, a significant difference (.05) was found in effectiveness which was not observed when gender and sex role identity were examined separately. There was no support in this study that androgynous persons (those high in both expressive and instrumental orientations) were any more flexible (as measured by range) or effective (as measured by adaptability) than nonandrogynous persons. The findings further suggest that sex role studies which do not differentiate by gender may, in fact, be measuring primarily the effect of gender and not sex role identity. Recommendations for further research were suggested by the findings. 530 Also available on the World Wide Web.