Degree Name

EdD (Doctor of Education)

Program

Educational Leadership

Date of Award

May 1990

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify personality types among dental hygiene school administrators and faculty and to determine if correlations existed between leader style, ideologies of leader style, perceived effectiveness, and personality type. Selected demographic variables were also examined. The dimensions of personality investigated were derived from the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator: extroversion, introversion, sensing, intuition, thinking, feeling, judging, and perceiving. The leadership behavior dimensions were the two dimensions of the real and ideal Leadership Behavior Description Questionnaires: consideration and initiating structure. Effectiveness was measured by a 39 item Likert-type instrument based on Tucker's (1981) categorical listing of chairperson activities and responsibilities. The study was conducted using a random sample of faculty and administrators from 32 dental hygiene programs across the United States. Thirty-two administrators and 148 faculty were surveyed. Responses were received from 23 administrators (71.9 percent) and 96 faculty (64.8 percent). Personality type was correlated with subordinate perception of leader style, ideal leader style, and effectiveness, with the strength of the relationships ranging from weakly negative to moderately positive. Among the correlations observed, those between real initiating structure and introversion, thinking and feeling were significant at the.05 level, as were the relationships between ideal consideration, and thinking and feeling. Relationships significant at the.05 level were also found between instruction and extroversion, introversion, sensing, intuition, and judging and between budget and resources and extroversion. Gender of the administrator and length of tenure did not account for significant differences in leader behavior ratings or effectiveness scores. Age of the administrator, however, was found to account for significant differences in leader behavior ratings, but not effectiveness ratings. A negative relationship was observed between amount of administrative training and effectiveness scores indicating that as administrative training increased effectiveness decreased. Ideal scores reported by faculty were significantly higher than real scores reported by faculty, but no significant difference was observed between the real and ideal scores reported by administrators. Administrators rating low on real consideration and real initiating structure received the lowest effectiveness ratings.

Document Type

Dissertation - unrestricted

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