Authentic Leadership: A Quantitative Study of the Effect of Authentic Leadership on Group Cohesion and Work Engagement in Student Organizations in Mexico
Authentic Leadership: A Quantitative Study of the Effect of Authentic Leadership on Group Cohesion and Work Engagement in Student Organizations in Mexico
Jorge Fernando Salcedo | 2016
Abstract
Authentic leadership, as a construct, has caught researchers’ attention, and it has gained recognition and position within leadership studies. Authentic leadership’s predictive capacity is in the developmental and discovering phase. Empirical studies on authentic leadership have less than 8 years, and there is still much to analyze and discover regarding this construct. This quantitative research aimed to add value and knowledge in the exploration of authentic leadership in Mexico. The authentic leadership construct includes four dimensions: (a) self-awareness, which refers to how leaders understand their strengths and weaknesses and the motives they exposure to others; (b) balance processing, which refers to how leaders analyze all relevant data before coming to a decision; (c) internalized moral perspective, which refers to how leaders make decisions based on values and high internal ethical standards; and (d) relational transparency, which refers to how leaders are open in presenting one’s true self to others (Walumbwa, Avolio, Gardner, Wernsing, & Peterson, 2008). Utilizing previously validated instruments, this study explored whether or not a relationship exists between authentic leadership behaviors of the leader (as perceived by the group members) and group cohesion and work engagement (as reported by the group members) within the Mexican context. This study worked with a sample of undergraduate students from Universidad de Monterrey who are members and active participants of student organizations and who are between 18-29 years old. Using a sample of 226 participants (N = 226), it was clearly demonstrated that there is a positive relationship between the authentic leadership behaviors of the leader and the members’ group cohesion (r = .56, β = .54, p = .000) and that there is a positive relationship between the authentic leadership behaviors of the leader and the members’ work engagement (r = .54, β = .54, p = .000). The study’s findings demonstrate the need to advance the research of authentic leadership in Mexico and Latin America.