Implicit Leadership Theory in the U.S. : A Comparative Study of Mexican Immigrants, Mexican Americans, and Non-Hispanic Americans

Paul Baumeister
Regent University

This study focuses on the theories of implicit leadership theory (ILT) and transformational and transactional leadership. This paper argues that different cultures have different conceptions of leadership and prefer certain leadership styles. Using the MLQ-5X in Spanish and English, three cultural groups were tested: non-Hispanic Americans, Mexican Americans, and Mexican immigrants. The study was comprosed of 255 Pentecostal church members. It was hypothesized that there would be significant differences among the three cultural groups. The results of this study indicate that the non-Hispanic Americans scored significantly higher than Mexican immigrants on individual consideration, inspirational motivation, and intellectual stimulation. In addition, Mexican immigrants scored higher in transactional leadership and laissez-faire leadership than non-Hispanic Americans. Finally, Mexican Americans scored significantly lower than non-Hispanic Americans and significantly higher than Mexican immigrants on transactional leadership.