PSYCHOLOGICAL ANDROGYNY AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO EFFECTIVE SCHOOL LEADERSHIP.

Abstract

The study investigated the relationship between situational leadership and psychological androgyny. Situational leadership emphasizes that the effective leaders can diagnose the environment and choose a style of response based on the task, the people, and the particular situation. The theory of psychological androgyny states that a person can exhibit both masculine and feminine qualities and behaviors. It was hypothesized that the androgynous leader, with a balance of task (masculine) and people (feminine) orientations, would be a more effective leader. The review of literature incorporated situational leadership, sex differences in leadership, and psychological androgyny. Teacher's perceptions of the principal's sex-role identity, utilizing the Short Bem Sex Role Inventory (Bem, 1981), and the relationship of that sex-role to perceptions of leadership effectiveness and adaptability, measured by the Leader Effectiveness and Adaptability Description (Hersey & Blanchard, 1973) were examined. Selected demographic variables were analyzed to determine their effect. Subjects included 125 male and 125 female principals randomly selected from public schools in Arizona. Thirty per cent of the teaching staff in each school was randomly selected to complete survey instruments describing the principal. Data was analyzed using chi square, t-test, and ANOVA procedures. Because of scoring procedures utilized, classification into sex-roles was sample-specific. The population was limited to principals in Arizona. Small numbers of female principals reduced the randomness of the sample. Results are generalizable only to the extent that another population is similar. Significance at the .001 level was found for sex of principal and perceived sex-role identity, grade level of principal and perceived sex-role identity, and sex-role identity and perceived leadership effectiveness and adaptability. No significance was found for the relationship between sex-role identity or leadership effectiveness and adaptability and the teacher variables of sex, age, ethnicity, years of experience, and administrative certification. Significance was found for the principal variables af age, ethnicity, years of experience, and teacher's years of experience with the principal. Size of school and community were also found to be significant. Further research into the relationship of these constructs, including observational studies and studies providing for external verification of both effectiveness and androgyny, would be beneficial.