Thesis (MA (Industrial Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / In most organisations worldwide, the magnitude of change is ever increasing. In
the midst of these uncertainties, there is an increasing need for leaders who can
provide structure, meaning and security within their teams. Dynamic and
transformational leaders become a sought after jewel in organisations.
Emotional intelligence has gained immense popularity in the last few years.
Extravagant claims have been made regarding the impact of emotional
intelligence on transformational leadership, as some researchers claim that
emotional intelligence accounts for up to 90% of leadership success.
The primary goal of this study was therefore to research the influence of
emotional intelligence on leadership, and to develop a structural model to
determine the relationships between the dimensions of emotional intelligence
and transformational leadership. If the dimensions of the emotional intelligence
construct that have a positive influence on leadership could be established, this
would provide a valuable tool to organisations. Recruitment, selection, training
and development procedures could be structured in a way that focuses on
identifying and developing these dimensions of emotional intelligence in leaders.
A literature study of the theories and models of transformational leadership and
emotional intelligence was conducted. A short overview has also been given of
“Primal Leadership” – discussing the emotional role of a leader as the first and
foremost function of any leader. Hypotheses, based on the theoretical
background, have subsequently been developed in order to establish the
relationship between the dimensions of emotional intelligence and leadership.The sample in this study is compiled of 118 managers within a financial institution
in the Western Cape. A questionnaire consisting of three sections was compiled
to collect information in order to provide an answer to the research problem.
Section A of the questionnaire was designed to give an overview of the
demographic variables of the participants. Section B measured emotional
intelligence by making use of the Rahim/Minors emotional intelligence
questionnaire. Section C employed the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire by
Bass & Avolio to measure transformational leadership.
A detailed statistical analysis was conducted. Correlations between the
constructs of emotional intelligence and transformational leadership were
determined by means of Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients.
Positive and significant correlations have been found for all hypotheses.
Structural equation modelling (SEM) and the partial least squares (PLS) method
were applied to test the hypothesised structural model. Although the model did
not provide a good fit, most of the predicted hypotheses have been confirmed by
the model. To investigate the unique contribution that each variable of interest
makes to the dependent variable to which it is linked, standard multiple
regression analyses have been performed on the data.
A positive and significant relationship has been found between emotional
intelligence and transformational leadership. Support has also been found for
most of the hypotheses that have been developed in order to explain the
relationship between the dimensions of emotional intelligence and the
dimensions of transformational leadership. The study also succeeded in
determining the emotional intelligence dimensions that are the best predictors of
leadership success, and these criteria can be utilised for the selection, training
and development of leaders. Conclusions are drawn from the results obtained,
the implementation value of the study is discussed, and recommendations for
future research are made.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:sun/oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/2829 |
| Date | 03 1900 |
| Creators | Beyers, Wilmarie |
| Contributors | De Villiers, W. S., University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. Dept. of Industrial Psychology. |
| Publisher | Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en_ZA |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 1188735 bytes, application/pdf |
| Rights | University of Stellenbosch |
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