The Link between Authentic Leadership and Affective Commitment to Change: Teacher Psychological Capital as a Mediating Role in East Hararghe, Oromia, Ethiopia

Mulugeta Geleta Gonfa, Befekadu Zeleke Kidane, Feyera Dinsa Hundessa, Tadese Hailu Afoework

Abstract


The purpose of this study was to examine the link between authentic leadership practices and teachers' affective commitment to change, with psychological capital serving as a mediator. A quantitative research approach was used.  The study employed a descriptive survey design to achieve this objective. Out of a total population of 1386 teachers in 22 schools, a sample size of 302 teachers was chosen through systematic random sampling. Questionnaires were employed as data collection tools. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, which included percentages, means, tables, pie charts, and correlations. The results showed that teachers perceived school leaders as exhibiting a moderate level of authentic leadership. The findings also indicated that the authentic leadership practices of secondary school leaders had a strong and positive connection with teachers' emotional commitment to change. Additionally, a statistically significant link was found between authentic leadership practices and teachers' affective commitment to change. Teachers’ psychological capital acts as a key mediator in the link between authentic leadership practices and teachers' emotional commitment to change. In conclusion, the study shows a positive link between authentic leadership and teachers' emotional commitment to change in secondary schools, with psychological capital playing a key role. It was recommended that authentic leadership practices be integrated into the evaluation and professional development of school leaders to promote ongoing improvement. Educational policies should focus on developing these skills among secondary school leaders, emphasizing self-awareness and emotional regulation, while also boosting teachers' psychological capital to strengthen their commitment to change.

Keywords


Authentic leadership, Affective commitment, Change to change, Psychological capital

Full Text:

PDF

References


Agegnehu, W., Abdissa, D. and Alemayehu, D. (2022). Confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis for validating allen and meyer organizational commitment questionnaire for health professionals in Ethiopia—Amharic language. Journal of Healthcare Leadership, 14(June), 99–111. https://doi.org/10.2147/JHL.S364973

Alvesson, M. and Einola, K. (2019). Warning for excessive positivity: Authentic leadership and other traps in leadership studies, Leadership Quarterly, 30(4), 383–395. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2019.04.001

Avolio, B. and Walumbwa, F. (2014). Authentic leadership theory, research, and practice: steps taken and steps that remain. Oxford University Press.

Avolio, B.J., Gardner, W. L., Walumbwa, F. O., Luthans, F., and May, D. R. (2004). Unlocking the mask: A look at the process by which authentic leaders impact follower attitudes and behaviors. Leadership Quarterly, 15(6), 801–823. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2004.09.003

Avolio, B.J. and Gardner, W.L. (2005). Authentic leadership development: Getting to the root of positive forms of leadership. The leadership Quarterly, 16(3), 315–338.

Avolio, B.J. and Gardner, W.L. (2005). Authentic leadership development: Getting to the root of positive forms of leadership, Leadership Quarterly, 16(3), 315–338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2005.03.001

Bakari, H., Hunjra, A. I., Jaros, S., & Khoso, I. (2019). Moderating role of cynicism about organizational change between authentic leadership and commitment to change in Pakistani public sector hospitals, Leadership in Health Services, 32(3), 387–404. https://doi.org/10.1108/LHS-01-2018-0006

Beddoes-Jones, F. and Swailes, S. (2015). Authentic leadership: development of a new three pillar model, Strategic HR Review, 14(3), 94–99. https://doi.org/10.1108/shr-04-2015-0032

Bedi, A., Alpaslan, C.M. and Green, S. (2016). A meta-analytic review of ethical leadership outcomes and moderators, Journal of Business Ethics, 139, 517–536.

Brown, M.E., Treviño, L.K. and Harrison, D.A. (2005). Ethical leadership: A social learning perspective for construct development and testing, Organizational behavior and human decision processes, 97(2), 117–134.

Burmansah, Sujanto, B. and Mukhtar, M. (2019). Work-life quality, job involvement, and affective commitment of school teachers. International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering, 8(2 Special Issue 9), 159–164. https://doi.org/10.35940/ijrte.B1034.0982S919

Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrison, K. (2020). Experiments, quasi-experiments, single-case research and meta-analysis: Research Methods in Education. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203029053-23

Creswell, J.W. and Clark, V.L.P. (2018). Designing and conducting mixed methods research approach (3rd ed.). Sage.

Duarte, A.P., Ribeiro, N., Semedo, A. S., and Gomes, D. R. (2021). Authentic leadership and improved individual performance: Affective commitment and individual creativity’s sequential mediation, Frontiers in Psychology, 12(May), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.675749

Feng-i, F. (2016). School principals authentic leadership and teachers’ psychological capital : Teachers’ perspectives. International Education Studies, 9(10), 245-245. DOI: 10.5539/ies.v9n10p245

Feyera, D. (2019). Relationship between change leadership and staff commitment in Ethiopian public universities [Doctoral dissertation]. Haramaya University, Haramaya, Ethiopia.

Gardner, W. L., Cogliser, C. C., Davis, K. M., and 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

Gill, C., and Caza, A. (2018) An investigation of authentic leadership’s individual and group influences on follower responses. Journal of Management, 44(2), 530–554. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206314566461

Hannah, S. (2022) Authentic leadership and employee commitment, behavior, and performance during organizational change. Capella University.

Herscovitch, L., and Meyer, J.P. (2002). Commitment to organizational change: extension of a three-component model, Journal of applied Psychology, 87(3), 474.

Jang, E. (2022). Authentic leadership and task performance via psychological capital: The moderated mediation role of performance pressure, Frontiers in Psychology, 13(May). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.722214

Kalshoven, K., Den Hartog, D. N., and De Hoogh, A. H. B. (2011). Ethical leader behavior and big five factors of personality, Journal of business ethics, 100, 349–366.

Karada, E., and Öztekin, O. (2018). The effect of authentic leadership on school culture: A structural equation model. International Journal of Educational Leadership and Management, 6(1), 40. https://doi.org/10.17583/ijelm.2018.2858

Kernis, M.H., and Goldman, B.M. (2006). A multicomponent conceptualization of authenticity: Theory and research, Advances in experimental social psychology, 38, 283–357.

Langlois, L. (2011). Looking at transformative leadership through the concept of ethics, Counterpoints, 409, 87–99.

Lee, A., Lyubovnikova, J., Tian, A. W., and Knight, C. (2020). Servant leadership: A meta‐analytic examination of incremental contribution, moderation, and mediation, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 93(1), 1–44.

Lemoine, G.J., Hartnell, C.A. and Leroy, H. (2019). Taking stock of moral approaches to leadership: An integrative review of ethical, authentic, and servant leadership, Academy of Management Annals, 13(1), 148–187.

Leroy, H., Anseel, F., Gardner, W. L., and Sels, L. (2015). Authentic leadership, authentic followership, basic need satisfaction, and work role performance: A cross-level study, Journal of Management, 41(6), 1677–1697. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206312457822

Liden, R.C., Wayne, S. J., Meuser, J. D., Hu, J., Wu, J., and Liao, C. (2015). Servant leadership: Validation of a short form of the SL-28, The leadership Quarterly, 26(2), 254–269.

Louis, K.S., Dretzke, B. and Wahlstrom, K. (2010). How does leadership affect student achievement? Results from a national US survey. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 21(3), 315–336. https://doi.org/10.1080/09243453.2010.486586

Luthans, F., Avolio, B. J., Avey, J. B., and Norman, S. M.(2007). Positive psychological capital: Measurement and relationship with performance and satisfaction. Personnel Psychology, 60(3), 541–572. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2007.00083

Maqsood, A. and Glenn, W. (2012). Validation of the three-component model of organizational commitment questionnaire. FWU Journal of Social Sciences, 6(2), 135–145.

Mayer, D. M., Kuenzi, M. and Greenbaum, R. L. (2010). Examining the link between ethical leadership and employee misconduct: The mediating role of ethical climate. Journal of business ethics, 95, 7–16.

Mercurio, Z. A. (2015). Affective commitment as a core essence of organizational commitment: An integrative literature review, Human Resource Development Review, 14(4), 389–414. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534484315603612

Meyer, J.P. et al. (2002). Affective, continuance, and normative commitment to the organization: A meta-analysis of antecedents, correlates, and consequences, Journal of vocational Behavior, 61(1), 20–52.

Northouse (2013). Leadership: Theory and practice. International Journal of Educational Management, 710–710. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513540810908601

Opatokun, K.A., Hasim, C.N., and Syed Hassan, S.S. (2013). Authentic leadership in higher learning institution: A case study of International Islamic University Malaysia (Iium), International Journal of Leadership Studies, 8(1), 49–66.

Quintin, B. D. (2023). The relationship between authentic leadership and followers’ commitment to organizational change in the manufacturing industry [Doctoral dissertation]. Indiana Wesleyan University.

Rego, A., Sousa, F., Marques, C., and e Cunha, M. P. (2012). Authentic leadership promoting employees’ psychological capital and creativity, Journal of Business Research, 65(3), 429–437.

Ribeiro, N., Duarte, A. P., Filipe, R. and de Oliveira, R. T. (2020). How authentic leadership promotes individual creativity: The mediating role of affective commitment, Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 27(2), 189–202. https://doi.org/10.1177/1548051819842796

Rodriguez, R.A., Green, M. T., Sun, Y., and Baggerly-Hinojosa, B. (2017). Authentic leadership and transformational leadership: An incremental approach, Journal of Leadership Studies, 11(1), 20–35. https://doi.org/10.1002/jls.21501

Roncesvalles, M.C.T. and Gaerlan, A.A. (2021). The role of authentic leadership and teachers’ organizational commitment on organizational citizenship behavior in higher education, International Journal of Educational Leadership and Management, 9(2), 92–121. https://doi.org/10.17583/ijelm.2021.7194

Semedo, A.S., Coelho, A. and Ribeiro, N. (2018). The relationship between authentic leaders and employees’ creativity: What are the roles of affective commitment and job resourcefulness?, International Journal of Workplace Health Management, 11(2), 58–73. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJWHM-06-2017-0048

Semedo, A.S., Coelho, A. and Ribeiro, N. (2019). Authentic leadership, happiness at work and affective commitment: An empirical study in Cape Verde, European Business Review, 31(3), 337–351. https://doi.org/10.1108/EBR-01-2018-0034

Shahzad, K., Raja, U. and Hashmi, S.D. (2021). Impact of Big Five personality traits on authentic leadership, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 42(2), 208–218.

Shamir, B. and Eilam, G. (2005). What’s your story? A life-stories approach to authentic leadership development, The leadership Quarterly, 16(3), 395–417.

Shifare, H., Abreha, F. and Githaiga, N. (2021). The impact of authentic leadership on employees’ organizational citizenship behavior in Ethiopia public service, International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147- 4478), 10(6), 121–131. https://doi.org/10.20525/ijrbs.v10i6.1318

Sidani, Y.M. and Rowe, W.G. (2018). A reconceptualization of authentic leadership: Leader legitimation via follower-centered assessment of the moral dimension, The Leadership Quarterly, 29(6), 623–636.

Söderlund, A. and Wennerholm, J. (2021). The complexity of authentic leadership: An interdisciplinary study with mixed methods about the relationship between gender and authentic leadership, (June), 1–88.

Towler, A. (2019). The power of authentic leadership: How legitimacy, ethics, and positive psychology drive organizational performance. All Management Resources [Preprint].

Walumbwa, F.O., Avolio, B., Gardner, W., Wernsing, T. and Peterson, S. (2008). Authentic leadership: Development and validation of a theory-based measure, Journal of Management, 34(1), 89–126.

Walumbwa, F.O., Luthans, F., Avey, J. B., and Oke, A. (2011). Authentically leading groups: The mediating role of collective psychological capital and trust, Journal of Organizational Behavior, 32(1), 4–24.

Xu, B. Da, Zhao, S. K., Li, C. R., and Lin, C. J. (2017). Authentic leadership and employee creativity: testing the multilevel mediation model, Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 38(3), 482–498. https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-09-2015-0194

Yin, R.K. (2011). Applications of case study research. Sage.

Yukl, G., Mahsud, R., Hassan, S. and Prussia, G. (2013). An improved measure of ethical leadership, Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 20(1), 38–48.

Zhu, Y. (2025). Authentic leadership : Fostering ethical cultures, employee engagement, and organizational resilience in complex environments. Proceedings of the International Conference on Research in Humanities and Social Sciences, 2(1), 1-14. DOI: https://doi.org/10.33422/icrhs.v2i1.838




DOI: https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijels.v.13n.3p.91

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Bookmark and Share


License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

2013-2025 (CC-BY) Australian International Academic Centre PTY.LTD.

International Journal of Education and Literacy Studies  

You may require to add the 'aiac.org.au' domain to your e-mail 'safe list’ If you do not receive e-mail in your 'inbox'. Otherwise, you may check your 'Spam mail' or 'junk mail' folders.