A comparison of leader and follower personality traits and the perceived effectiveness of physical education chairpersons at selected institutions in Tennessee.

Abstract

There were two purposes of the study. The first was to determine if a positive relationship exists between leader and follower personality traits. The author hypothesized that faculty members who perceived their leaders to be effective would possess the same or similar personality traits as those of their leader. Also, those faculty members who perceived an ineffective leader would possess different traits than those of their leader. The second purpose of the study was to identify the perceived effectiveness of college physical education administrators as seen by the faculty in selected colleges and universities in Tennessee. Included in the sample population were nine chairpersons, 37 faculty members who perceived their chairperson as being effective, and 10 faculty members who perceived their chairperson as being ineffective in that role. This investigation began in the summer of 1986 and data collection was completed in May, 1987. The testing instruments used for gathering data included Cattell's Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire and an Evaluation of Department Chairperson form. Statistical analyses revealed a significant difference between the chairpersons and faculty who perceived an effective leader on Factor N (Forthright vs. Shrewd) with the chairpersons as more shrewd and less forthright. Further analysis revealed two personality factors that differed significantly between the chairpersons and faculty who perceived an ineffective leader. Factor E (Humble vs. Assertive) and Factor Q1 (Conservative vs. Experimenting) resulted in two-tail probabilities of.046 and.001, respectively. The faculty subgroup tended to be more assertive and more experimenting than the chairpersons. Analyses between subgroups of faculty who perceived an effective leader and faculty who perceived an ineffective leader resulted in significant differences on three factors. Factor E (Humble vs. Assertive), Factor M (Practical vs. Imaginative) and Factor Q1 (Conservative vs. Experim