Abstract
This study aims to explore how perceptions of male and female followers differ regarding their emphasis on different attributes of authentic leadership. The Middle East constitutes an interesting area to analyse gender-based perceptions due to relatively high gender inequality. Based on gender-identity theory, the authors argue that to acknowledge a leader as being authentic, women would value a leader’s interdependence while men prefer independence. Conducting 105 in-depth interviews in 10 Middle Eastern countries, this study examines the significance of followers’ gender in cognizance of authentic leadership. The findings show that although Middle Eastern men and women have many common convictions about authentic leaders, there are also significant differences in their expectations, notably, while men prefer authentic leaders to be autonomous, women expect them to show care and nurturance.
Notes
- 1.
From Syria, the last data collection was in 2010.
- 2.
The interviews continued to be conducted up until 2016 with the respondents from the nine Middle East countries, except Syria, from where the last data collection was in 2010.
References
Aquino, K., & Reed, A. (2002). The self-importance of moral identity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 1423–1440. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.83.6.1423.
Avolio, B. J., & Gardner, W. L. (2005). Authentic leadership development: Getting to the root of positive forms of leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 16(3), 315–338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2005.03.001.
Avolio, B. J., Gardner, W. L., Walumbwa, F. O., Luthans, F., & May, D. R. (2004). Unlocking the mask: A look at the process by which authentic leaders impact follower attitudes and behaviours. The Leadership Quarterly, 15(6), 801–823. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2004.09.003.
Barakat, H. (1993). The Arab world: Society, culture, and state. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Bass, B. M., & Steidlmeier, P. (1999). Ethics, character, and authentic transformational leadership behaviour. The Leadership Quarterly, 10(2), 181–217. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1048-9843(99)00016-8.
Begley, P. T. (2001). In pursuit of authentic school leadership practices. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 4(4), 353–365. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603120110078043.
Belenky, M., Clinchy, B., Goldberger, N., & Torule, J. (1986). Women’s ways of knowing: The development of self, voice, and mind. New York: Basic Books.
Betz, N. E., & Fitzgerald, L. F. (1987). The career psychology of women. Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
Bhindi, N., & Duignan, P. (1997). Leadership for a new century: Authenticity, intentionality, spirituality, and sensibility. Educational Management and Administration, 25(2), 117–132. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263211X97252002.
Bill, J. A., & Leiden, C. (1979). Politics in the Middle East. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.
Brewer, M., & Lui, L. (1989). The primacy of age and sex in the structure of person categories. Social Cognition, 7(3), 262–274. https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.1989.7.3.262.
Burke, P. (1980). The self: Measurement implications from a symbolic interactionist perspective. Social Psychology Quarterly, 43(1), 18–29. https://doi.org/10.2307/3033745.
Chodorow, N. (1978). The reproduction of mothering. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Cross, S., & Madson, L. (1997). Models of the self: Self-construals and gender. Psychological Bulletin, 122(1), 5–37. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.122.1.5.
Eagly, A. H. (1987). Sex differences in social behaviour: A social-role interpretation. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Eagly, A. H. (2005). Achieving relational authenticity in leadership: Does gender matter? The Leadership Quarterly, 16(3), 459–474. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2005.03.007.
Erickson, R. J. (1995). The importance of authenticity for self and society. Symbolic Interaction, 18(2), 121–144. https://doi.org/10.1525/si.1995.18.2.121.
Erkutlu, H., & Chafra, J. (2013). Effects of trust and psychological contract violation on authentic leadership and organizational deviance. Management Research Review, 36(9), 828–848. https://doi.org/10.1108/MRR-06-2012-0136.
Ertenu, B., Karacay, G., Asarkaya, C., & Kabasakal, H. (2011). Linking the worldly mindset with an authentic leadership approach: An exploratory study in a middle- eastern context. In S. Turnbull, P. Case, G. Edwards, D. Schedlitzki, & P. Simpson (Eds.), Worldly leadership: Alternative wisdoms for a complex world (pp. 206–222). Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Gardner, W. L., Avolio, B. J., Luthans, F., May, D. R., & Walumbwa, F. O. (2005). Can you see the real me? A self-based model of authentic leader and follower development. The Leadership Quarterly, 16(3), 343–372. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2005.03.003.
Gardner, W. L., Cogliser, C. C., Davis, K. M., & Dickens, M. P. (2011). Authentic leadership: A review of the literature and research agenda. The Leadership Quarterly, 22(6), 1120–1145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2011.09.007.
Geertz, C. (1975). On the nature of anthropological understanding. American Scientist, 63(1), 47–53. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.contentproxy.phoenix.edu/stable/27845269?pq-origsite=summon&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
George, W., & Sims, P. (2007). True north: Discover your authentic leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Gilligan, C. (1982). In a different voice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Gilligan, C. (1987). Moral orientation and moral development. In E. Kittay & D. Meyers (Eds.), Women and moral theory. Totowa, NJ: Rowman & Littlefield.
Goffee, R., & Jones, G. (2005). Managing authenticity. Harvard Business Review, 83(12), 85–94.
Goldman, B. M., & Kernis, M. H. (2002). The role of authenticity in healthy functioning and subjective well-being. Annals of the American Psychotherapy Association, 5(6), 18–20. Retrieved from http://www.biomedsearch.com/article/role-authenticity-in-healthy-psychological/95844662.html
Harter, S. (2002). Authenticity. In C. R. Snyder & S. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 382–394). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Hayes, A. F., & Krippendorff, K. (2007). Answering the call for a standard reliability measure for coding data. Communication Methods and Measures, 1(1), 77–89. https://doi.org/10.1080/19312450709336664.
Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture’s consequences: Comparing values, behaviours, institutions, and organizations across nations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
House, R. J., Hanges, P. J., Javidan, M., Dorfman, P. W., & Gupta, V. (2004). Leadership, culture and organizations: The Globe study of 62 societies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Ilies, R., Morgeson, F. P., & Nahrgang, J. D. (2005). Authentic leadership and eudaemonic well-being: Understanding leader–follower outcomes. The Leadership Quarterly, 16(3), 373–394. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2005.03.002.
Kabasakal, H., & Bodur, M. (2002). Arabic cluster: A bridge between east and west. Journal of World Business, 37(1), 40–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1090-9516(01)00073-6.
Kabasakal, H., Dastmalchian, A., Karacay, G., & Bayraktar, S. (2012). Leadership and culture in the MENA region: An analysis of the GLOBE project. Journal of World Business, 47(4), 519–529. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2012.01.005.
Kagitçibasi, C. (1994). A critical appraisal of individualism and collectivism. Toward a new formulation. In U. Kim, H. C. Triandis, C. Kagitçibasi, S.-C. Choi, & G. Yoon (Eds.), Individualism and collectivism: Theory, method, and applications (pp. 52–65). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Kernis, M. H. (2003). Toward a conceptualization of optimal self-esteem. Psychological Inquiry, 14(1), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1401_01.
Kernis, M. H., & Goldman, B. M. (2006). A multicomponent conceptualization of authenticity: Theory and research. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 38, pp. 283–357). San Diego: Academic Press.
Kihlstrom, J., & Klein, S. (1994). The self as a knowledge structure. In R. S. Wyer Jr. & K. Thomas (Eds.), Handbook of social cognition (Vol. 1, pp. 153–208). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Kohlberg, L. (1969). Stage and sequence: The cognitive-development approach to socialization. In D. Goslin (Ed.), Handbook of socialization theory and research. Chicago, IL: Rand McNally & Company.
Krippendorff, K. (2004). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Lord, R. G., Brown, D. J., Harvey, J. L., & Hall, R. J. (2001). Contextual constraints on prototype generation and their multilevel consequences for leadership perceptions. The Leadership Quarterly, 12(3), 311–338. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1048-9843(01)00081-9.
Luthans, F., & Avolio, B. J. (2003). Authentic leadership: A positive developmental approach. In K. S. Cameron, J. E. Dutton, & R. E. Quinn (Eds.), Positive organizational scholarship (pp. 241–261). San Francisco: Barrett-Koehler.
Maccoby, E. (1990). Gender and relationships. A developmental account. The American Psychologist, 45(4), 513–520. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.45.4.513.
Markus, H., & Kitayama, S. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review, 98, 224–252.
Moghadam, V. M. (1993). Modernizing women: Gender and social change in the Middle East. Boulder, CO: Lynee Rienner Publishers.
Özkan, S., & Ceylan, A. (2012). Multi-level analysis of authentic leadership from a Turkish construction engineers perspective. South East European Journal of Economics and Business (Online), 7(2), 101–114. https://doi.org/10.2478/v10033-012-0018-2.
Ridgeway, C. (1997). Interaction and the conservation of gender inequality: Considering employment. American Sociology Review, 62(2), 218–235. https://doi.org/10.2307/2657301.
Ridgeway, C., & Smith-Lovin, L. (1999). The gender system and interaction. Annual Review of Sociology, 25, 191–216. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.25.1.191.
Senam, M., Rashid, K., Sarkawi, A., & Zaini, R. (2014). Construction project leadership from the perspective of Islam. International Journal of Islamic Thought, 6, 46–56. Retrieved from http://www.ukm.my/ijit/IJIT%20Vol%206%202014/IJIT%20Vol%206%20Dec%202014_5_46-56.pdf
Shweder, R., & Bourne, E. (1984). Does the concept of person vary cross-culturally? In R. A. Shweder & R. A. LeVine (Eds.), Culture theory: Essays on mind, self, and emotion (pp. 158–199). Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
Spitzmuller, M., & Ilies, R. (2010). Do they [all] see my true self? Leader’s relational authenticity and followers’ assessments of transformational leadership. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 19(3), 304–332. https://doi.org/10.1080/13594320902754040.
Stets, J., & Burke, P. (1996). Gender, control, and interaction. Social Psychology Quarterly, 59(3), 193–220. https://doi.org/10.2307/2787019.
Stets, J., & Burke, P. (2000). Identity theory and social identity theory. Social Psychology Quarterly, 63(3), 224–237. https://doi.org/10.2307/2695870.
Stryker, S., & Serpe, R. (1982). Commitment, identity salience, and role behaviour: A theory and research example. In W. Ickes & S. Eric (Eds.), Personality, roles, and social behaviour (pp. 199–218). New York: Springer.
Tabak, A., Polat, M., Cosar, S., & Turkoz, T. (2013). A research on the consequences of authentic leadership. Bogazici Journal Review of Social, Economic, and Administrative Studies, 27(2), 63–82. 10.21773/boun.27.2.4.
Tajfel, H. (1981). Human groups and social identity. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In W. G. Austin & S. Worchel (Eds.), The social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 33–47). Monterey, CA: Brooks-Cole.
Triandis, H. C. (1989). The self and social behaviour in differing cultural contexts. Psychological Review, 96(3), 506–520. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.96.3.506.
Uhl-Bien, M., Riggio, R. E., Lowe, K. B., & Carsten, M. K. (2014). Followership theory: A review and research agenda. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(1), 83–104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2013.11.007.
Walumbwa, F., Avolio, B., Gardner, W., Wernsing, T., & Peterson, S. (2008). Authentic leadership: Development and validation of a theory-based measure. Journal of Management, 34(1), 89–126. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206307308913.
Walumbwa, F. O., Wang, P., Wang, H., Schaubroeck, J., & Avolio, B. J. (2010). Psychological processes linking authentic leadership to follower behaviours. The Leadership Quarterly, 21(5), 901–914. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2010.07.015.
Whitehead, G. (2009). Adolescent leadership development: Building a case for an authenticity framework. Educational Management Administration and Leadership, 37(6), 847–872. https://doi.org/10.1177/174114320934544.
World Economic Forum. (2013). The Arab world competitiveness report. Cologny, Geneva, Switzerland. Retrieved from http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_AWCR_Report_2013.pdf
World Economic Forum. (2015). Global gender gap report. Cologny, Geneva, Switzerland. Retrieved from http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GGGR2015/cover.pdf
World Economic Forum. (2016). The global competitiveness report 2016–2017. Cologny, Geneva, Switzerland. Retrieved from http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GCR2016-2017/05FullReport/TheGlobalCompetitivenessReport2016-2017_FINAL.pdf
Zahra, S. A. (2011). Doing research in the (new) middle east: Sailing with the wind. Academy of Management Perspectives, 25(4), 6–21. https://doi.org/10.5465/amp.2011.0128.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Karacay, G., Ertenu, B., Kabasakal, H. (2018). Follower Gender and Authentic Leadership: Perspectives from the Middle East. In: Cotter-Lockard, D. (eds) Authentic Leadership and Followership. Palgrave Studies in Leadership and Followership. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65307-5_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65307-5_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-65306-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-65307-5
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)