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Exploring the Relationships Between Leadership Styles and Job Satisfaction Among Employees of Nonprofit Organizations

Exploring the Relationships Between Leadership Styles and Job Satisfaction Among Employees of Nonprofit Organizations

Lawanne Shanta Ross-Grant | 2016

Abstract

This nonexperimental study aims to explore the relationship between leadership styles and job satisfaction among employees of nonprofits. Specifically, the goal of the study is to determine the strength of the linear relationships between job satisfaction and transformational leadership, servant leadership, authentic leadership, and transactional leadership. The research addresses two research questions: Do leadership styles have a positive relationship with job satisfaction among employees of nonprofit organizations? Do leadership styles differ in levels of job satisfaction among employees of nonprofit organizations? The study has five hypotheses. H1: Transformational leadership is positively correlated with job satisfaction. H2: Servant leadership is positively correlated with job satisfaction. H3: Authentic leadership is positively correlated with job satisfaction. H4: Transactional leadership is negatively correlated with job satisfaction. H5: Transformational, servant, authentic, and transactional leadership styles display significantly different levels of job satisfaction. The study employs snowball sampling securing 132 participants who completed the survey electronically. ALQ measured Authentic Leadership; SLQ measured Servant Leadership; MLQ measured Transformational and Transactional Leadership; and JDI measured Job Satisfaction. Age, tenure, and workforce were identified as covariates (categorical control variables). Following analysis, H1, H2, H3, and H4 are supported. With the covariates age and tenure, H5 is supported when considering the significant differences between transformational and authentic leadership and between transformational and transactional leadership. Without the covariates, H5 is supported when considering the significant difference between transformational and authentic leadership.