Date of Award

Spring 2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Organizational Leadership

First Advisor

Dr. Katrina Hutchins

Second Advisor

Dr. Debra J. Dean

Third Advisor

Dr. Nathaniel Pearson

Abstract

Authentic leadership has garnered increasing attention from scholars and practitioners for its emphasis on ethical and transparent leadership practices that foster positive organizational outcomes. Despite its popularity, research into its antecedents remains underdeveloped. This study is a response to calls to examine potential psychometric predictors of authentic leadership, focusing on temperament as a biologically-rooted factor. This quantitative research involved surveying 338 U.S. leaders on temperament and authentic leadership. Temperament, as measured by the Fisher Temperament Inventory (FTI), offers a neuroscience-based perspective and resolves the potential crossover issues found in the widely studied Five-Factor Model (FFM). Using the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire (ALQ) to measure authentic leadership dimensions, this research investigated how the FTI’s four temperament scales—Explorer, Builder, Director, and Negotiator—predict authentic leadership traits. Results revealed significant predictive relationships, with each authentic leadership component being associated with at least one temperament scale. These findings provide new insights into the biological antecedents of authentic leadership and contribute to theoretical advancements in understanding how intrinsic traits shape effective leadership behaviors.

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