Prior studies examined the importance of good leadership skills for those in leadership positions; however, this study addressed a gap in literature regarding how leadership characteristics in supervised employees can impact job satisfaction. The purpose of this quantitative study was to assess the influence of authentic leadership on leader, coworker, task, and general job satisfaction. Authentic leadership emerged from the theory of positive psychology which surmises that self-growth coincides with a focus on the development of others and is based on the premise that individual improvement is gained by focusing on positive personality aspects. Online recruitment using a participant pool and social media was used to sample adults who have been employed either full or part-time, can read English, and have been under supervision while at work. Participants (N = 138) completed the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire and the Job Descriptive Index. Research questions were addressed by using 4 logistic regression models to show the relationship between the independent variable (authentic leadership) and each of the 4 dependent variables (coworker satisfaction, general job satisfaction, task satisfaction, and leader satisfaction). The results of this study were that a significant association existed between authentic leadership and coworker satisfaction, as well as general job satisfaction, but not between authentic leadership and task satisfaction or leader satisfaction. Implications for positive social change include the improvement of human resource processes. Human resource professionals could use authentic leadership in employee recruitment by gearing onboarding assessments to authenticity constructs such as ethical conduct and transparency. In addition, employee training designed around authentic traits may reduce job-related stress, absenteeism, and job turnover.

A presente tese investigou em que medida a percepção de liderança autêntica, de líderes e liderados, promove o capital psicológico e o engajamento no trabalho dos mesmos. Analisou-se ainda a influência da estrutura organizacional nas variáveis estudadas. Cinco estudos foram conduzidos. Primeiro, fez-se uma revisão da literatura sobre a produção internacional de liderança autêntica entre os anos de 2011 a 2015. Essa análise identificou importantes avanços sobre a temática. No entanto, os críticos desta teoria ainda apresentam pontos a serem respondidos. Os estudos de validação e da invariância da medida do Authentic Leadership Questionnaire para o Brasil, confirmam a adequação do instrumento. Os últimos dois estudos apontam que o capital psicológico prediz mais o engajamento no trabalho dos profissionais, em relação a liderança autêntica. Ainda constatam, estruturas organizacionais cooperativas e empreendedoras tem os profissionais mais engajados, em comparação as estruturas individualistas e controladoras. / This thesis investigated to what extent the perception of authentic leadership, by leaders and followers, promotes their psychological capital and work engagement. The influence of organizational structure on the variables studied was also analyzed. Five studies were carried out. Firstly, a review was made of the literature on the international production on authentic leadership between 2011 and 2015. That analysis identified important advances in the subject. However, critics of this theory still present points to be addressed. Studies regarding validation and the invariance of the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire for Brazil confirm the suitability of the instrument. The last two studies indicate that psychological capital is a better predictor of employees’ work engagement than authentic leadership. It also emerges that cooperative and entrepreneurial organizational structures have more engaged employees than more individualistic and controlling operational structures.

A presente tese investigou em que medida a percepção de liderança autêntica, de líderes e liderados, promove o capital psicológico e o engajamento no trabalho dos mesmos. Analisou-se ainda a influência da estrutura organizacional nas variáveis estudadas. Cinco estudos foram conduzidos. Primeiro, fez-se uma revisão da literatura sobre a produção internacional de liderança autêntica entre os anos de 2011 a 2015. Essa análise identificou importantes avanços sobre a temática. No entanto, os críticos desta teoria ainda apresentam pontos a serem respondidos. Os estudos de validação e da invariância da medida do Authentic Leadership Questionnaire para o Brasil, confirmam a adequação do instrumento. Os últimos dois estudos apontam que o capital psicológico prediz mais o engajamento no trabalho dos profissionais, em relação a liderança autêntica. Ainda constatam, estruturas organizacionais cooperativas e empreendedoras tem os profissionais mais engajados, em comparação as estruturas individualistas e controladoras. / This thesis investigated to what extent the perception of authentic leadership, by leaders and followers, promotes their psychological capital and work engagement. The influence of organizational structure on the variables studied was also analyzed. Five studies were carried out. Firstly, a review was made of the literature on the international production on authentic leadership between 2011 and 2015. That analysis identified important advances in the subject. However, critics of this theory still present points to be addressed. Studies regarding validation and the invariance of the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire for Brazil confirm the suitability of the instrument. The last two studies indicate that psychological capital is a better predictor of employees’ work engagement than authentic leadership. It also emerges that cooperative and entrepreneurial organizational structures have more engaged employees than more individualistic and controlling operational structures.

A presente tese investigou em que medida a percepção de liderança autêntica, de líderes e liderados, promove o capital psicológico e o engajamento no trabalho dos mesmos. Analisou-se ainda a influência da estrutura organizacional nas variáveis estudadas. Cinco estudos foram conduzidos. Primeiro, fez-se uma revisão da literatura sobre a produção internacional de liderança autêntica entre os anos de 2011 a 2015. Essa análise identificou importantes avanços sobre a temática. No entanto, os críticos desta teoria ainda apresentam pontos a serem respondidos. Os estudos de validação e da invariância da medida do Authentic Leadership Questionnaire para o Brasil, confirmam a adequação do instrumento. Os últimos dois estudos apontam que o capital psicológico prediz mais o engajamento no trabalho dos profissionais, em relação a liderança autêntica. Ainda constatam, estruturas organizacionais cooperativas e empreendedoras tem os profissionais mais engajados, em comparação as estruturas individualistas e controladoras. / This thesis investigated to what extent the perception of authentic leadership, by leaders and followers, promotes their psychological capital and work engagement. The influence of organizational structure on the variables studied was also analyzed. Five studies were carried out. Firstly, a review was made of the literature on the international production on authentic leadership between 2011 and 2015. That analysis identified important advances in the subject. However, critics of this theory still present points to be addressed. Studies regarding validation and the invariance of the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire for Brazil confirm the suitability of the instrument. The last two studies indicate that psychological capital is a better predictor of employees’ work engagement than authentic leadership. It also emerges that cooperative and entrepreneurial organizational structures have more engaged employees than more individualistic and controlling operational structures.