The Value of Leadership and Personality in OT Private Practice
Event Type
Presentation
Start Date
12-1-2019 9:00 AM
End Date
12-1-2019 12:00 PM
Description
The purpose of this study was to investigate the value of leadership styles and personality traits in occupational therapists working in both private and non-private practice. Data for the study were collected using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ), the Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI), and a selfdesigned demographic questionnaire. The study sample included 240 occupational therapists, including 158 private practitioners (PPs) and 82 non-private practitioners (NPPs). Major findings from the study indicate that most PPs and NPPs were utilizing a transformational leadership (TFL) style. However, more NPPs fell into the “undetermined” leadership style category than PPs. Additionally, the results indicate that the transactional leadership (TXL) attribute of Contingent Reward had a significant (p < .01) positive correlation with the attributes of TFL in both groups of participants. The results showed some differences between groups, including several significant (p < .01) correlations between leadership attributes and personality traits which only appeared in the PP group. The results of this research suggest that there are differences in PPs and NPPs in regard to leadership styles and personality traits. On average, PPs had more years of experience which may help explain why less PPs were categorized as having an “undetermined” leadership style than NPPs. Suggestions for future research include a study with a larger sample size that focuses on implementation of leadership courses into graduate level curriculum or the effect of mentor relationships on effective leadership.
Recommended Citation
Decker, T. J., Bledsoe, J., Cowen, L., Sullivan, A., & Wright, A. (2019), The Value of Leadership and Personality in OT Private Practice, Presentation, Fifth Annual Research Colloquium, https://nsuworks.nova.edu/ot_colloquium/fifth/events/5
The Value of Leadership and Personality in OT Private Practice
The purpose of this study was to investigate the value of leadership styles and personality traits in occupational therapists working in both private and non-private practice. Data for the study were collected using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ), the Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI), and a selfdesigned demographic questionnaire. The study sample included 240 occupational therapists, including 158 private practitioners (PPs) and 82 non-private practitioners (NPPs). Major findings from the study indicate that most PPs and NPPs were utilizing a transformational leadership (TFL) style. However, more NPPs fell into the “undetermined” leadership style category than PPs. Additionally, the results indicate that the transactional leadership (TXL) attribute of Contingent Reward had a significant (p < .01) positive correlation with the attributes of TFL in both groups of participants. The results showed some differences between groups, including several significant (p < .01) correlations between leadership attributes and personality traits which only appeared in the PP group. The results of this research suggest that there are differences in PPs and NPPs in regard to leadership styles and personality traits. On average, PPs had more years of experience which may help explain why less PPs were categorized as having an “undetermined” leadership style than NPPs. Suggestions for future research include a study with a larger sample size that focuses on implementation of leadership courses into graduate level curriculum or the effect of mentor relationships on effective leadership.