The relationship between transformational leadership and psychological capital in university staff managers

Abstract

The topic of leadership has received much scholarly attention, as researchers have investigated the contribution of different leadership styles to various elements of organizations. Transformational leadership, which is one of the well-established leadership styles, has been found to contribute to multiple aspects of the workplace. Additionally, researchers have investigated the relationship between psychological capital and various leadership styles. Previous research has found a significant relationship between leadership and psychological capital; however, few studies have analyzed the relationship between transformational leadership and psychological capital, specifically levels of psychological capital in transformational leaders. The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate these relationships, specifically the relationship between transformational leadership and psychological capital and its subscales, self-efficacy, hope, optimism, and resiliency. Participants were asked to take a survey containing the Transformational Leadership Inventory (TLI) and the Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ). The survey was sent to a sample of 649 staff supervisors at a large southeastern university, of which 216 individuals participated. Correlational analyses were employed to investigate initial relationships. Overall levels of psychological capital, as well as its subscales, self-efficacy, hope, optimism, and resiliency were all found to be significantly positively correlated with transformational leadership. Results from a multiple regression analysis indicated that self-efficacy, hope, and optimism had significant unique contributions to level of transformational leadership. However, resiliency did not have significant results. A canonical correlation analysis was employed to further explore the relationships between each of the constructs.