1

Investigate if six of the Character Strengths from

Peterson and Seligman’s classification (2004)

predicted any of the three leadership styles of

Transformational, Transactional or Laissez-Faire

(Bass & Avolio, 2004).

2

3

Hope, Spirituality,

Humility,

Gratitude, Humor

Prudence

Transformational Leadership

Transactional Leadership

Laissez-Faire Leadership

Quantitative

Non-Experimental

Cross-sectional

3 Multiple Regression analyses

4

Sampling frame- 8000 Norwegian leaders

Union The Leaders

N=173

5

6

Category n %

Gender

Female 49 23.8

Male 124 71.7

Age

25-34 11 6.4

35-44 43 24.9

45-54 76 43.9

55+ 42 24.3

Org.size

0-20 35 20.2

50-100 20 11.6

100-200 19 11.0

200-499 24 13.9

500-9999 46 26.6

10 000+ 6 3.5

Tenure

4 years or less 71 41.1

5-10 years 49 28.4

10-20 years 23 13.3

20-30 years 7 4.0

30 + years 3 1.7

Educational level

9 years 5 2.9

12 years 39 22.5

Vocational education 51 29.5

Some college/University 23 13.3

Bachelor degree 36 20.8

Master degree 18 10.4

The Values In Action classificiation of Strength

(VIA-IS) 72-item scale (Peterson & Seligman,

2004)

The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire

(MLQ-5X-Short) by Bass & Avolio

(Mindgarden, 2004)

7

Independent variables; Hope, Spirituality,

Humility, Gratitude, Humor and Prudence

Dependent variables;

› H1: Tranformational Leadership

› H2:Transactional Leadership

› H3: Laissez-faire Leadership

8

H1: The six Character Strengths of Hope,

Spirituality, Humility, Gratitude, Humor and

Prudence predict Transformational leadership

style.

F= (6,149)= 2.98, p< .01

Hope was found to be a significant individual

contributor (β = .25, p< .05)9

H2; The six Character Strengths of Hope,

Spirituality, Humility, Gratitude, Humor and

Prudence predict Transactional Leadership style.

F= (6,141) = 3.31, p< .005.

Spirituality made a unique significant negative

contribution (β = .21, p < .02)

10

H3; The six Character Strengths of Hope,

Spirituality, Humility, Gratitude, Humor and

Prudence predict Laissez-Faire leadership style.

H3 not confirmed

None of the 6 Character Strengths made any

significant contributions

11

Peterson, Walumbwa, Byron & Myrowitz (2009)

found that the positive psychological traits of

Hope, Optimism and Resiliency was related to

Transformational Leadership in CEO’s in High-

Technology Firms

Chaturvedi, Arvey, Zhang & Cristoforou (2011)

found that the genetic influence on

Transformational leadership was mediated by

dispositional hope.

12

Jamaludin, Rahman, Makhbul & Idris (2011)

found that Spiritual leadership can be

distinguished from Transactional and

Transformational leadership.

McKee, Driscoll, Kelloway & Kelley (2011)

found a relationship between the effects of

Transformational Leadership and employees

spiritual well-being in health care workers

13

In a study done by Riggio, Zhu, Maroosis &

Reina (2010) Laissez-Faire leadership was found

to negatively correlate to Prudence (-.64).

Avolio, Howell & Sosik (1999) found that

inactive, laissez-faire leadership was negatively

related to the use of humor.

14

The higher Hope, the higher Transformational

leadership

The more spiritual a leader is, the less

Transactional leader he is.

Both TL and CS/Virtues can be developed

can be used in leadership development programs

15

Character Strengths and Virtues can be seen as

universally and religiously applicable across

many of the countries and world religions

(Seligman et al, 2004; 2006)

Heightens CS/V’s value and importance for

universally accepted leadership

Can contribute to an international

conceptualization of global leadership theory

16

Using self-reporting;

› Consistency motif

› Implicit theories

› Social acceptability

Length of questionnaire

English versions

Low response rate hinders generalization

Sample limitation; 71.7% males, 28.3 % women

17

Replicate among other Norwegian leaders

Replicate among leaders in other nations and

continents

Study other precursors to Transformational

leadership that can be developed

Longitudinal experimental design research

18

This research contributed to the overall

knowledge base of

› leadership and to the evolving research about

› Character Strengths/Virtues and positive psychology

This research filled a gap in the literature

studying antencedents to TL that are not stable

inherent traits

19