UNIVERSITY OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES,

ACCRA
SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES

INFLUENCE OF PERSONALITY TRAITS ON ETHICAL

LEADERSHIP: A STUDY OF SELECTED BASIC
SCHOOLS IN GA CENTRAL MUNICIPAL
EDUCATIONAL DIRECTORATE.
BY

EMMANUEL ADU-YEBOAH

(10060633)

A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES, UNIVERSITY

OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES, ACCRA IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY DEGREE IN

LEADERSHIP

APRIL 2017
 CANDIDATES DECLARATION

I, the undersigned do hereby declare that this thesis is the result of my own original research and

that no part of it has been presented for another Degree in any University. However, all sources

of borrowed materials have been duly acknowledged.

Name: EMMANUEL ADU-YEBOAH

Signature:

Date:

i
 SUPERVISORS DECLARATION

I declare that the preparation and presentation of this thesis were in accordance with the

guidelines on supervision of thesis laid down by University of Professional Studies, Accra.

Name: ERNEST MENSAH ABRAHAM (PhD)

Signature:

Date: .

ii
 DEDICATION

I dedicate this work to my parents Mrs. Mary Akosua Konadu and Mr Joseph Yeboah for

continuously inspiring me and bringing out the best in me. Also to my lovely Aunt Mary Abenaa

Yeboah who in diverse ways has contributed to making me become a better and more valuable

person, I say God richly bless you

iii
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

All praise and thanks be giving to God Almighty for the grace, mercy, abilities and insights

which have resulted in accomplishing this research.

To my dedicated supervisor Dr. Ernest Mensah Abraham, who by his guidance, advice and hard

work aside his busy schedules, enabled me to complete this work successfully. I say more grease

to your elbows and God richly bless you.

I would also like to thank Isaac Boakye and Bridget Ama Botchway for their support,

encouragement and advice throughout this work.

Finally, my outmost gratitude goes out to the participants who took part in answering my

questionnaires and those who shared their valuable time, money and personal experience for the

successful completion of this work, I am very grateful to you.

iv
 ABSTRACT

The study investigates the influence of the big five personality traits on ethical leadership, using

selected basic schools within Ga Central Municipal Educational Directorate in Ghana. One

hundred and eighty respondents consisting of headteachers and teachers were selected for the

study. The leaders responded to a questionnaire concerning their personality traits whiles

subordinates rated the ethical behavior of their leaders. The researcher adopted a descriptive

cross sectional survey design and data collected was analyzed using multiple regression analysis

and independent sample t-test. The study found out that, personality traits such as

conscientiousness and extraversion had a significant positive effect on ethical leadership

behavior after controlling for all variables.

Furthermore, the study also revealed that leader conscientiousness accounts for the most variance

in ethical leadership behavior. Also, there was no significant difference in ethical leadership due

to the gender of leaders. The study further recommends among other things the need to organize

leadership training programs that concentrates on training the right personality traits into leaders

as it would affect their behavior towards the overall success. In addition to this, the Ghana

Education Service should assess the personality traits of headteachers before they apply for

headships positions.

v
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
CANDIDATES DECLARATION ............................................................................................... i

SUPERVISORS DECLARATION ............................................................................................ ii

DEDICATION.............................................................................................................................. iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................ iv

ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... v

LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... xi

LIST OF FIGURE ...................................................................................................................... xii

CHAPTER ONE ........................................................................................................................... 1

INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Background of the Study ....................................................................................................... 1

1.2 Statement of the Problem ...................................................................................................... 4

1.3 General Objectives of the study ............................................................................................ 6

1.4 Specific Objectives ................................................................................................................ 6

1.5 Hypotheses ............................................................................................................................ 6

1.6 Significance of the Study ...................................................................................................... 7

1.7 Scope and Organization of the study..................................................................................... 7

1.8 Study Context ........................................................................................................................ 8

1.9 Background of the Ghana Education Service ....................................................................... 9

CHAPTER TWO ........................................................................................................................ 10

LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................................... 10

2.0 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 10

2.1 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ...................................................................................... 11

2.1.1 Brief History of the psychology of personality ................................................................ 11

2.1.2 Overview of Personality Traits ........................................................................................ 12

vi
2.2 The Emergence of the Big Five Personality Traits ............................................................. 15

2.2.1 Hippocrates (460 B.C 370 B.C) .................................................................................... 15

2.2.2 Galen (129-200 A.C) ........................................................................................................ 15

2.2.3 Gordon Allport (1897-1967) ............................................................................................ 16

2.2.4 Raymond Bernhard Cattell (1905-1998) and the Big Five Personality ........................... 17

2.3 The Big Five Personality Dimensions ................................................................................. 19

2.3.1 Conscientiousness ............................................................................................................ 20

2.3.2 Agreeableness................................................................................................................... 21

2.3.3 Neuroticism ...................................................................................................................... 21

2.3.4 Extraversion ..................................................................................................................... 22

2.3.5 Openness to Experience ................................................................................................... 22

2.4 Concept of Leadership ........................................................................................................ 23

2.4.1 Ethical Leadership ............................................................................................................ 24

2.4.2 Heifetzs and Burns Standpoints on Ethical Leadership................................................. 27

2.4.3 The Social Learning Theory and Ethical Leadership ....................................................... 30

2.4.4 Ethical Leadership and Personality Characteristics ......................................................... 31

2.5 Additional Individual Characteristics as antecedents of Ethical Leadership ...................... 32

2.5.1 Locus of Control............................................................................................................... 32

2.5.2 Moral Judgment................................................................................................................ 33

2.5.3 Self-Monitoring ................................................................................................................ 34

2.6 Situational Influences on Ethical Leadership ...................................................................... 35

2.6.1 Ethical Role Modeling ..................................................................................................... 35

2.6.2 Ethical Situation within the Organization ........................................................................ 37

2.6.3 Degree of Morality of Issues faced .................................................................................. 39

2.7.1 Ethical dilemmas faced by school leaders........................................................................ 42

vii
 2.8 Empirical Literature ............................................................................................................ 43

2.8.1 The Big Five Personality Traits and Ethical Leadership.................................................. 47

2.8.2 Relationship between Openness to experience and Ethical Leadership .......................... 48

2.8.3 Relationship between Conscientiousness and Ethical Leadership ................................... 48

2.8.4 Relationship between Extraversion and Ethical Leadership ............................................ 49

2.8.5 Relationship between Agreeableness and Ethical Leadership ......................................... 50

2.8.6 Relationship between Neuroticism and Ethical Leadership ............................................. 50

2.8.7 Leader Gender and Ethical Leadership ............................................................................ 51

2.9 Conceptual Model of the Study........................................................................................... 56

2.10 Operational Definition of Terms ....................................................................................... 57

CHAPTER THREE .................................................................................................................... 59

METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................................................... 59

3.0 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 59

3.1 Research Design .................................................................................................................. 59

3.2 Research Approach ............................................................................................................. 60

3.3 Population............................................................................................................................ 60

3.4 Sample Frame and Sample Size .......................................................................................... 61

3.5 Sampling Technique ............................................................................................................ 62

3.6 Data Collection Instrumentation ......................................................................................... 62

3.6.1 Demographic Characteristics ........................................................................................... 63

3.6.2 Measuring Ethical Leadership .......................................................................................... 63

3.6.3 Measuring Personality Trait ............................................................................................. 64

3.6.4 Validity of the Instruments............................................................................................... 64

3.6.5 Reliability of the Instruments ................................................................................................... 65

3.6.6 Pilot Study................................................................................................................................... 65

viii
 3.7 Ethical Consideration .......................................................................................................... 66

3.8 Data Administration Procedure ........................................................................................... 67

3.9 Data Analyses ...................................................................................................................... 68

CHAPTER FOUR ....................................................................................................................... 70

RESULTS AND DISCUSION ................................................................................................... 70

4.0 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 70

4.1 Descriptions of Participants .............................................................................................. 71

4.1.1 Gender distribution ................................................................................................................... 72

4.1.2 Age Distribution......................................................................................................................... 72

4.1.3 Education Distribution.............................................................................................................. 72

4.1.4 Tenure at post Distribution ...................................................................................................... 73

4.1.6 Age Distribution......................................................................................................................... 75

4.1.7 Education Distribution.............................................................................................................. 76

4.1.8 Tenure at post Distribution ...................................................................................................... 76

4.2 Preliminary Analysis ......................................................................................................... 77

4.2.1 Handling Missing Data .......................................................................................................... 77

4.2.2 Data Examination: Checking for Errors, Outliers and Testing Normality................... 78

4.2.3 Validity of Measures .............................................................................................................. 80

4.2.4 Multicollinearity Testing of Study Variables ...................................................................... 81

4.2.5 Justifying Data Aggregation of Ethical leadership Statistics ............................................ 82

4.2.6 Assessing consistent response of raters on Ethical Leadership .......................................... 83

4.2.7 Linearity Testing..................................................................................................................... 84

4.3 Hypothesis Testing ...................................................................................................................... 88

4.4 Discussion of Results ........................................................................................................ 94

4.4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 94

ix
 4.4.2 To determine the effect of personality traits variables on ethical leadership. .................. 94

4.4.3 To identify the personality trait variable with the most variance on ethical leadership. 96

4.4.4 To examine whether there is a significant difference in ethical leadership due to gender
of leaders. ............................................................................................................................................. 97

CHAPTER FIVE ........................................................................................................................ 98

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................. 98

5.0 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 98

5.1 Summary of Findings ........................................................................................................ 98

5.2 Conclusion........................................................................................................................... 99

5.3 Theoretical Contributions.................................................................................................. 99

5.4 Recommendations ........................................................................................................... 100

5.5 Limitations of the Study .................................................................................................. 100

5.6 Future Studies .................................................................................................................. 101

REFERENCE ............................................................................................................................ 103

APPENDIX A ............................................................................................................................ 125

APPENDIX B ........................................................................................................................... 132

x
 LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.0: The Big Five-Factor Model of Personality Traits - - - - 19

Table 2.1 Summary of Research Gap in Literature - - - - - 47

Table 3.0 Cronbach Alpha () of Test-retest Reliability at different time lines. (N=30) - 66

Table 4.1 Demographic Characteristics of the sample - - - - - 71

Table 4.2 Demographic Characteristics of the sample - - - - - 74

Table 4.3 Normality and Cronbach Alpha test for Ethical Leadership instruments - 79

Table 4.4 Normality and Cronbach Alpha test for Big Five Personality Traits - - 80

Table 4.5 Measurement models for the two study variables - - - - 81

Table 4.6 Multicollinearity Diagnostics of Predictor Variables- - - - 82

Table 4.7 Kappa Analysis of Ethical Leadership Aggregation- - - - 83

Table 4.8 Intra-class Correlation Table for Ethical Leadership Aggregation- - 84

Table 4.9 Correlation matrix of study variables - - - - - - 86

Table 4. 10 Descriptive Statistics of Study- EL N=180- - - - - 87

Table 4.11 Descriptive Statistics of Study PL N=180 - - - - - 87

Table 4.12 Results of Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analyses for the predictive effect

of personality traits variables on ethical leadership behaviour- - - 90

Table 4.13 Independent Sample T-test output for gender and ethical leadership - 92

Table 4.14 Summary of Study Hypotheses Results - - - - - 93

xi
 LIST OF FIGURE

Figure 2.2: Conceptual Framework - - - - - - - 56

Figure 5.1: Post Study Conceptual Framework. - - - - - - 102

xii
 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

In recent times, the role leaders play in organizations have been more enormous than before, this

is because leaders have been viewed as figure heads hence everything that goes on within the

organization are directly linked to them (Northouse, 2010). Furthermore, leaders are also seen as

the driving force to achieve the goals of the organization. Apart from the targets every leader is

required to meet, leaders are expected to exhibit certain ethical behaviors that will positively

affect the conduct of employees within the organization and also meeting environmental and

societal responsibilities (Dickson, Smith, Grojean, & Ehrhart, 2001).

Leaders by virtue of their positions have some powers that enable them to steer the affairs of an

organization, however the negative use of these powers will have a perverse effect on the

organization or the nation at large. A striking case was the Enron scandal in 2001 where the

executives of the accounting and audit firm were able to use the accounting loopholes and poor

financial reporting to hide millions of dollars in debt from failed deals and projects (McLean &

Elkind, 2004).

Currently, the world has been witnessing excess of unethical practices and scandals of business

concern (Colvin, 2003; Mahta, 2003; Revell, 2003) and this has brought about the quest to

determine the role of leaders in shaping the behavior of employees within the organization

(Brown, Trevino, & Harrison, 2005). These, coupled with other occurrences have brought the

1
attention of organizational researchers about the ethical and unethical practices within and

without organizations (Avey, Palanski & Walumbwa, 2011).

As far as organizations are concerned, ethics is better addressed in the field of leadership because

leaders at all levels within an organization set the tone for ethical behavior. Leadership is

therefore one of the most important factors in studying ethics (Kalshoven, 2010, p. 13). In

agreement to this assertion, Aronson (2001) explain ethics as the study of standards for assessing

right or wrong and good or harmful behavior. Ethical leadership is defined as the

demonstration of normatively appropriate conduct through personal actions and interpersonal

relationships, and the promotion of such conduct to followers through two-way communication,

reinforcement, and decision-making (Brown, Trevio, & Harrison, 2005, p. 120). That is,

ethical leaders are not only expected to live right, but also exhibit certain behaviors that are

upheld as of high moral standards and worth emulating by all.

However it is not fully understood why some leaders engage in ethical leadership while others

do not (Kalshoven, Den Hartog & De Hoogh, 2011) as studies have shown that a leaders

influence on subordinates is greatly affected by personal characteristics of the leader (Anderson,

Spataro & Flynn, 2008).

The second president of the United States, John Adams once stated that Because power corrupts

society's demands for moral authority and character increase as the importance of the position

increases (Macnamara & McDonell, 2010). However, must we wait for one position to increase

before the society can demand for ethical practices? Must we wait to see how leaders who do not

know how to handle power affect negatively the lives of others before we act?

2
The quest to answer these questions gave rise for some organizational researchers to make

inquiries into the tools that can aid in predicting the behavior of leaders in an organization

(Fretwell, Lewis, & Hannay, 2013). Literature tends to assert that personality traits form the

basis of human behavior and this affect the way one behaves over a prolonged period of time, it

is considered to be different among persons (Beer & Brooks, 2011). This shows that in

understanding the human personality traits, there could be some traits that will make one act

ethically or not. Hogan and Shelton (2006) posits that personality differences among persons

can be used to predict their work performance and behavior as they form the core of human

nature. This assertion seems emphasized in a study conducted by Entezari, Zabihi and Shekari

(2014), when they found out that an individuals silence response behavior in an organization is

related to the personality trait the individual possesses using the Neo personality inventory which

is based on the big five factor personality traits, namely extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism,

conscientiousness and openness to experience.

Several researches have been conducted and have shown that, the Big five personality traits is

believed to outline the basic trait that underlines human personality and also seen to be relatively

stable over a long period of time and cross cultural (Kalshoven, 2010; McCrae & Costa, 1997;

Walumba & Schaubroeck, 2009). Apart from it being cross culture generalizable, another logical

reason that emphasize on the big five is that of the integrity tests which are not clearly

differentiated from that of the big five dimensions measures (Becker, 1996; Sackett & Wanek,

1996; Kalshoven, 2010 p. 69). Research has shown a strong correlation of integrity with

agreeableness, conscientiousness and emotional stability (cf. Marcus, Hoft & Riediger, 2006;

Ones, Viswesvaran & Dilchert, 2005). Leaders who possess these three traits are perceived as

ethical (Brown & Trevino, 2006; 2013; Kalshoven, Den Hartog & De Hoogh, 2011).

3
In a theoretical review, Walumbwa and Schaubroeck (2009) found out that there was a positive

relationship between agreeableness and conscientiousness with ethical leadership, whiles

neuroticism related negatively with ethical leadership. Their study did not take into consideration

of the other two traits such as extraversion and openness to experience based on the explanation

giving by Brown et al. (2005) that these traits were not linked to ethical leadership construct. On

the contrary, Bormann (2013) came out with a finding by the two traits (extraversion and

openness to experience) in his study asserted that extraversion was positively related to ethical

leadership. Hence the primary aim of this study is to find out the influence of each of the big five

personality traits variables on ethical leadership considering the geographical (country)

differences that is West Africa, Ghana.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

In recent times, ethical leadership has had the necessary recognition because of the increased in

scandals in the global business and credit crisis (Bello, 2012). Several cases like the Enron,

World com, Parmalat, Arthur Anderson which took place in the developed world have served as

an examples where leaders have failed ethically for various reasons such as the win at all cost

attitude of business (Bello, 2012).The academic institutions have also not been left out as there

has been a rise in unethical behavior of leaders in the various schools (Walumbwa &

Schaubroeck, 2009).

In Ghana, issues of unethical leadership have had their say in the underlying structure of

educational institutions. For instance in 2013 a report by Transparency International reveals that

the standard of education in the country was falling because of corruption that has tainted basic

4
schools and even the universities as 40% of parents pay bribes for their wards to be enrolled in

the various educational sectors (GhanaWeb, 2013).

Again, on April 2015, the headmaster of Nifa Senior High School in Akropong in the Eastern

Region was charged for sexual misconduct on a female teacher by the Akropong circuit court

(Appiah, 2015). Besides, on April 2012, the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit

(DOVVSU) office of Ghana picked up a headmaster of a basic school in Accra, for defilement of

a fifteen-year-old class six pupil and was charged as such (Antonio, 2012).

In addition to this, a head master of Ascension Senior High School in the Ashanti Region was

also arrested together with a literature teacher and a student in connection with exams

malpractice in the 2016, WASSCE exams (Akuffo, 2016). Again Keta police arrested the

Headteacher of Zion Basic School for allegedly extorting over GHC 300,000 on recruitment

scam (Akablie, 2016). On January, 2016 the headmaster of Mfantsipim Senior High was asked to

step aside by the Ghana Education service over unapproved fees been collected from the parents

(Ansah, 2016).

Regardless of the Ghana Education Service Code of Conduct (section 8, 25 and 28) which

emphatically states that, the collection of bribes and other negative practices are highly unethical

and come with sanctions (GES, 2008), this sanctions seems not to prevent some heads of school

from acting otherwise.

All these practices by the leaders have a negative impact on the educational system because

leaders are seen as figure heads, hence everything that goes on within the organization are

directly linked to them (Northouse, 2010). However, it is not well understood why some leaders

(headteachers) choose to behave ethically while others do not (Kalshoven, Den Hartog & De

5
Hoogh, 2011). This can be as a result of the mode of selection of these leaders. For example, the

Ghana Education Service appoints head teachers for various schools based on the rank (Assistant

Director II) they have attained without thoroughly examining their personality traits as these

traits have a major impact on the leaders ethical behavior. It is the contention of this research

that those headteachers who behave unethically lack these personality traits; Openness to

experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism. Based on this, the

study seeks to find out how these big five personality traits influence headteachers ethical

leadership using Ga Central Municipal Education Directorate as the case study.

1.3 General Objectives of the study

The main aim of the study was to explore the effects of Leader personality traits (five factor

personality traits) on ethical leadership.

1.4 Specific Objectives

To achieve this aim, the objectives of the study were:

To determine the effect of personality traits variables on ethical leadership.

To identify the personality trait variable with the most variance on ethical leadership.

To examine whether there is a significant difference in ethical leadership due to gender of

leaders

1.5 Hypotheses

1. Based on the objectives, the following hypotheses were proposed:

a. Openness to experience will have a significant positive effect on ethical leadership

b. Conscientiousness will have a significant positive effect on ethical leadership

c. Extraversion will have a significant positive effect on ethical leadership

6
 d. Agreeableness will have a significant positive effect on ethical leadership

e. Neuroticism will have a significant negative effect on ethical leadership

2. Conscientiousness will account for more variance in ethical leadership behavior than all other

traits.

3. There will be a significant difference in ethical leadership behaviour due to gender of leaders.

1.6 Significance of the Study

The role of ethical leadership in the educational sector cannot be overemphasized. The school

curriculum, class size, content scheduling and administration are in the hands of our educational

leaders (Pearson, 1998; OECD, 2009; Pont, Nusche & Moorman, 2008). In view of this, the

current study will help to create awareness of the factors that should be considered when

selecting leaders to handle our educational systems since these leaders have great impact in the

organization they held.

1.7 Scope and Organization of the study

This study is divided into five chapters. The first chapter addresses the background to the study,

the general and specific objectives that were considered in the study, the research hypotheses,

and the significance of the study. Chapter two examines the relevant theories and concepts of the

study. This was organized into theoretical and empirical literature and review of some empirical

works that have been done in the area. Chapter three looked at the general design of the study,

the target population of the study from which the sample was drawn and the instruments that

were used and how it was validated. The sampling technique, data collection and the statistical

analysis that were used to analyzed the study. Chapter four presented the results and findings of

7
the study and analyzed quantitatively using the SPSS software where regression analysis and

independent T-test were used to interpret the findings. And finally, the Chapter five presents the

summaries, conclusions, recommendations and the contribution that this research makes to the

current knowledge. Limitations and future studies were also presented in this chapter.

1.8 Study Context

The context of the study was the educational sector, with some selected schools in the Ga Central

Municipal Educational Directorate. According to Ghana Education Service records, the Ga

Central Municipal Educational Directorate has two (2) circuits with two supervisors. The first

circuit is Chantan Circuit with ten (10) public schools and thirty-two (32) private schools. The

second circuit is Anayaa Circuit with nine (9) public schools and twenty-four (24) private

schools. Some of the schools include Anyaa M/A 1 Basic, Ablekuma M/A 1 Basic, Anyaa

Community Experimental 1 Basic, Chantan Basic School, Greta D. Shepherd 1 Basic, Vision

Complex School, Ebenezer Thompson Memorial School, Jesus Care International School and

Adu Gyamfi Preparatory school.

The normal mode for selection of headteachers in the various schools is based on interviews and

government appointments. Issues of examination malpractice and sexual misconduct have had

their way in the municipal. For instance, last year 2016 the circuit supervisor of Chantan took a

transfer to different district because of allegations of sexual misconduct. Again the external

supervisor of the monitoring team had to stop the BECE 2016 students whose center were at

Apostle Kwadwo Sarfo School at Awoshei, for almost two hours because of some exams

malpractices that were going on in that center. In a presentation by Mrs. Afia Opoku Asare, Snr.

Lecturer, Dept. of Arts Education, KNUST on 23rd June, 2012 stressed on ethical issues in basic

8
schools and called for headmasters and supervisors of various circuits in the country to ensure

that ethics are maintained in schools (Foray, 2012).

1.9 Background of the Ghana Education Service

In March 1974, the government of Ghana at that time sought the need to establish the Ghana

education service under the National Redemption Council Decree 247 (NRCD 247) to be part of

the Public Service of Ghana. After the commencement of the union, they were tasked to design

policies that will control the activities of teachers at the pre-university rank. It later became

Ghana Education Service because they were not to only service the interest of teachers but also

the non-teaching staff and supporting staff within the educational unit.

The Ghana Education Service duties include oversees of basic, secondary, technical and special

education. Another mandate is to ensure that private educational institutions go through all the

right procedures before they are been registered. Also they are to submit to the Minister,

recommendations for educational policies and programmes.

The Ghana Educations Service is governed by fifteen-member council with all the divisions at

G.E.S headquarters. The governing bodies of Ghana Education Service are appointed by the

government under the endorsement and guidance of the Ministry of Education. From 1998, the

organization decided to decentralize most of their hierarchies and this led to most of their

decisions taken at their headquarters being moved to their district offices to ensure that much

supervision is done for the perfect functioning of the body as a whole.

9
 CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 Introduction

This research attempts to address an educational problem from a new perspective. This is to the

fact that there have been increases in unethical practices by some headteachers which are not in

accordance with the code and ethics of Ghana Education Service. Headteachers are appointed

based on the ranks they have reached without the educational authorities thoroughly examining

their personality traits as these traits have a major impact on their ethical behavior. Based on this,

the literature review focuses on concept of personality traits, ethical leadership, and ethical

leadership in education.

The chapter is presented in two sections. The theoretical literature and empirical literature.

Theoretical literature looks at the findings based on existing theories and hypothesis. The

empirical literature is based on the verification through experiments, experience and

observations. The chapter also outlines the conceptual frame work guiding the study and also

provides operational definitions of all terms used in the study.

10
2.1 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

2.1.1 Brief History of the psychology of personality

Individual character and attitude vary from one person to another. When something happens,

different individuals may respond to it in a different way. One may automatically laugh while to

another person it may be sorrowful although they face the same circumstances. The study of

human personality in conjunction with the anatomy of the human body has been a field a lot of

psychologists have given much attention to. Personality can be thought of as what the inner

composition of a person comprises of, that which shapes an individual and is expressed in how

one relates to the world. The personality of individuals has been described as consistent over

time (Kretschmer, 1977; McLeod, 2014). That is, although an individual may exhibit several

attitudes at different occasions, there are some basic underlying personality traits that tend to be

present in all of his or her actions.

The term personality can be traced from the Greek word persona. Persona in Greek means

mask. Masks were worn during drama not with the intention of hiding the face of a character

but to expose the personality of a particular character in the drama (Sinatra, Brem & Evans,

2008). In the field of psychology, personality has been described as a collection of emotional,

cognitive and behavioral patterns unique to a person that is relatively consistent over time

(Brandstrom, 2009, p.12). Cattell (1950) expressed that what a person would do in a given

situation, can be predicted based on his or her personality. This is evidenced in various scientific

researches where other outcomes have been predicted based on ones personality characteristics

(Asma, 2013; Piccolo et al., 2012).

11
2.1.2 Overview of Personality Traits

Personality traits as an ancient concept can be traced as far back as the genesis of human

languages. Aristotle (384-322 BC), in his literature on ethics, outlined some human

characteristics such as modesty, vanity and fear as distinguishing factors amongst moral and

immoral persons. The foundation of Aristotle's teaching was that every individual has some

unique trait that can be studied independently. It has been argued that though those

characteristics may generally be amended as a result of changes in situations or the environment,

human beings possess certain core characteristics that do not change with the environment or

situation.

These characteristics have been observed to remain constant over a time, span and hence affect

ones behavior (Cloninger, 2000). Similarly, Olver and Mooradian (2003) assert that core human

characteristics are responsible for the variation in an individuals personal values and behavior.

Theophrastus (371-287 BC) a student of Aristotle identified thirty human characteristics,

however, a translator asserted these characteristics were better termed as "personality traits"

because they distinguish one person from another (Rusten, 1993). This goes to point to the fact

that personality is inherent and underlines the basis of human behavior. From time immemorial,

the quest to understand personality traits led to the division of traits into nine (9) numbered

types, this method was known as Enneagram. Theophrastus (371-287 BC) was of the view that

this method originated from the sacred geometry made by the Pythagoreans 4,000 years ago.

Through the change of time and culture the theory came to the days of Plato, arcane Judaism

then into modern times (Personality Test, 2001-2005).

12
Carl Jung, the Swiss Psychiatrist, considered the way individuals processed and applied

information and used that to outline eight types of personality traits on whether they are

introverted or extroverted (Jung, 1933).

His work, Psychological Types, was written in German in 1921 and outlined extensively the

following:

Firstly, that one who uses his physical senses to gather information is termed a sensor,

furthermore, he used the term an intuitor to denote one who gathers information based on his

internal mind patterns. Besides, a person who makes decision based on constructive knowledge

or thinking, he termed as a thinker and finally one who makes decisions using his emotions

was termed a feeler (Personality Traits, 2001-2005). Jung posits that there are two

personality traits, the extroverts and the introverts, according to Jung, extraversion enables one to

relate with the external environment whiles the introversion helps one to relate with the world

within and most people according to Jung are a mixture of the two (Jung, 1933).

The history of enquiry into personality and development of personality typing methods rose

again in 1926 when William Marston, a psychologist at Harvard University developed what was

then popularly known as the DISC system which divided personality traits into four types and

was used by the US army during the Second World War in recruiting and selecting qualified men

for war. This model then came to be very popular and individuals were thought to be a

combination of four human behavior. These areas were Control, Influencing, Firmness and

Amenableness (Personality Traits, 2005).

13
The next personality trait indicator was the Myers-Briggs model which is still popular as of

today. It was developed by an American mother Katherine Cook Briggs and daughter Isabel

Briggs Meyers in the year 1958. It is also considered to have originated from the work of Carl

Jung (Myers, Mary & McCauley, 1985). The main difference between the Myers Briggs type

indicator and that of Carl Jung was the fact that the Briggs model added a back-up function.

For instance, if a person was an extrovert, their back up or auxiliary action under stress would be

introversion. This was more realistic so far as human behavior under pressure is concerned.

The model labeled 16 personality types based on special mixture or combination of preferences.

Since it is based on a mixture of types, four letters are used to represent a particular group of

mixture. For instance, a person with Extraverted, Sensing, Thinking and Judging is called an

ESTJ, which is taken from the first letters. Each type combination has a strength and weakness

and no type is considered better than another (Myers, 1998; Myers, McCauley, Quenk &

Hammer, 2003). However, the Myers Briggs personality type indicator has been criticized with

its low test-retest reliability. For instance, when one takes the test and does a retest using the

same individual in few weeks time, theres a very high probability that one will fall into a

different personality category as compared to the first test taken. This meant that it lacked

consistency to some extent and a major flaw if this information is to be used for research or

career choices.

Furthermore, the model is said to lack a strong scientific background and hence have inadequate

scientific facts (Baer, 2014). Baer (2014) opined that the best alternative to the Myers Briggs

personality type indicator is the big five personality traits as it seeks to predict human behavior.

The Big five personality trait operates along five continuums and has been observed by social

scientist and tested in the lab as well as in the field.

14
2.2 The Emergence of the Big Five Personality Traits

In order to understand the emergence and perspective of the big five personality traits, the study

sought to outline some of the prior perspectives to personality traits by the key players that led to

the emergence of the big five personality traits.

2.2.1 Hippocrates (460 B.C 370 B.C)

An earlier perspective of human personality and temperaments was propounded by Hippocrates

where four elements namely air, earth, fire and water were used to explain human health. He

used these four humors to represent blood, black bile, phlegm and yellow bile. According to

Hippocrates, the health of an individual depended on the balanced composition of these four

humors in the body in their right amount (Strelau, 1998).

2.2.2 Galen (129-200 A.C)

Later, Galen based on the theory propounded by Hippocrates propounded a more elaborate

understanding of human characteristics. This appears to be the first typology where he

considered temperaments such as choleric, which according to him could be linked to the yellow

bile as identified by Hippocrates (Cattell, Eber, & Tatsuoka, 1970). According to Gallen, the

choleric type is typified by aggressiveness and is quick tempered. Furthermore, the phlegmatic

typology (phlegm) he explained as characteristics such as dullness and lazy in nature and

unwilling to put in more effort.

Next is the melancholic typology (black bile) that are characterized by sadness and disheartened

whiles having a cynical attitude towards events of the world. Last but not the least is the

sanguine which he described as people with an abundant of blood supply and hence were

15
cheerful, comfortable with their work and very optimistic (Strelau, 1998; Brndstrm, Richter, &

Nylander, 2003).

2.2.3 Gordon Allport (1897-1967)

As an advance in the history of personality traits, another theory that had great impact on the big

five personality traits was one propounded by Allport. Allport described personality in terms of

some basic characteristics that are present within an individual and stable across diverse culture

situations and across time (Cloninger S., 2000; Allport & Odbert, 1936). After a careful study of

the dictionary, Allport found 17,953 words that according to him described human personality

from the fundamental point of view. Following this, he further went ahead to develop three

hundred (300) words that described human personality which he grouped into three levels of

characteristics by comparing their similarities, that is fundamental traits, dominant traits and

ancillary traits.

The fundamental traits refer to those personality traits or characteristics in a person that

dominates him and directs entirely everything the individual seeks to do or does. This could be

thought of as those traits that stand out or the highest contributing factor of ones behavior. The

dominant traits which refer to those general traits that to a degree is present within every

individual. For instance, every individual has a level of happiness to some degree which is

expressed in different ways when something nice happens to us or to those around us. The

ancillary traits according to Allport are those traits that cause consistent behaviors, however, they

16
do not have an effect on behaviors across time neither do they affect those general behaviors in

every individual. He argued that when the heredity of a person interacts with the environment

that one finds himself in, then personality is created. Thus mathematically, personality=

Environment * f (heredity).

2.2.4 Raymond Bernhard Cattell (1905-1998) and the Big Five Personality

According to Cattell all aspects of human personality which are or have been of importance,

interest or utility have already become recorded in the substance of language (Cattell, 1943,

p.483). Based on this idea, through a factor analysis, he came up with a sample range of words

that were widely used to describe ones personality (Cloninger S., 2000). Contrarily, Allport

(1897-1967) did not agree with Cattell (1905-1998) who argued that the result from the factor

analysis was able to represent a persons life completely (Cloninger S., 2000; Allport, 1936).

However, it is a plausible assertion that despite the numerous personality characteristics that

exist, some of these characteristics are a mere reflection or outcome of a much bigger

characteristic. Goldberg (1990, P. 1216) summarizes his side of the argument that although

human characteristics are very diverse, yet much of these go unnoticed simply because some of

these unseen traits are actually expressed in other seemingly major traits.

In order to accurately measure personality, Cattell (1905) came up with a multifarious sixteen

(16) itemized personality factor questionnaire taking into consideration the core traits within

individuals (Catell, Eber & Tatsuoka, 1970). In his analysis, he postulated that three types of data

should endorse personality patterns first of all the T-data which emerges from behavioral

measures of individuals as a result of an observation in laboratories, L-data which takes into

account the day to day activities of an individual with the aim of understanding their behavior

17
pattern from the real world perspective. For instance, how many times did an individual show

empathy to another when confronted with a situation that demanded for decisions of such forms,

or how many times did one engage in party activities. Finally is the Q-data that solicits

information about an individual based on self-introspection questionnaire or interviews.

Following the sixteen items, Cattell (1905) performed a new factor analysis which brought about

another two new traits: First, Anxiety, which he called neuroticism, a trait that has substantial

contribution into self-esteem weakness, fault proneness and low self-sentiment. The second trait

was extraversion which also has substantial loading into sanguinity, chattiness and bravery.

Following this, he propounded a five factor model (FFM) namely Openness, Conscientiousness,

Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism (OCEAN) (Goldberg, 1990). He further went on to

assert that any model for describing human personality should center around this five factor

model which he termed as the Big five (Costa & McCrae, 1992). This has widely been used in

the field of organizational research in determining the influence diverse personality traits have on

various leadership outcomes (Zafar, 2013; Piccolo et al., 2012).

Another personality model that is widely used in the field of social science research is the Myers

Briggs personality indicator that measures a combination of personality traits. However, the

major criticism about the model as compared to the big five personality trait is that it lacks

scientific backing. Also, it has been observed that when an individual takes the test and does a

retest after a short while, different results are attained. Much of the criticism about the Myers

Briggs personality indicator has been much of its origin rather than the facts about the usage of

the instrument (Hunsley, Lee & Wood, 2004).

18
 2.3 The Big Five Personality Dimensions

In his definition, Catell (1905-1998) refer to personality as the perceptive and social pattern that

has immense stability for a period of time and cuts across diverse situations (Eswaran, Islam &

Muhd Yusuf, 2011). Hence, it is plausible to assert that the personality of an individual can

affect ones values and attitudes (Olver & Mooradian, 2003). The label Big Five was coined

by Lewis Goldberg in the year 1976 and was linked purely with personalities in natural language

although the term Big Five Factor has been used in recent times sign personality

questionnaires (Eswaran, Islam& Yusuf, 2011). The five factor model of personality outlines

five dimensions of personality traits labeled Extraversion, Neuroticism, Agreeableness,

Openness to experience and Conscientiousness (Costa & McCrae, 1992; Goldberg, 1990).

The table 2.1 below shows The Big Five-Factor Model of Personality Traits

Table 2.0: The Big Five-Factor Model of Personality Traits

Big Five Personality Traits Specific Traits

Openness to experience Curious, Imaginative, Artistic, Excitable, Wide interest

Conscientiousness Competence, Organized, Dutiful, Achievement striving, Self-disciplined

Agreeableness Straightforwardness, Forgiving, Warm, Compliance, Sympathetic, Modest

19
Extraversion Sociable, Assertive, Energetic, Adventurous, Enthusiastic, Outgoing

Neuroticism Anxiety, Angry hostility, Depression, Shy, Moody, Vulnerability

Source: John and Srivastava, 1999.

Studies have shown that, the big five personality model is consistent within various research

methods and have been identified as genetically based, stable and cross-culture generalizable

(Kalshoven, 2010, p. 72). Roccas et al. (2002) opined in their study that, the five factor model

dominates all other approaches in representing personality construction today. Other empirical

evidences have supported the claim that the Big Five personality trait represents an orderly

arranged manner of personality taxonomy (Digman, 1990; Goldberg, 1993; McCrae& Costa,

1996; O Connor, 2002). The study looks at the individual constructs that make up the big five

personality traits.

2.3.1 Conscientiousness

Individuals with this personality trait are labeled to be assiduous, determined and very results

oriented. Such individuals are seen to be unrelenting, structured, trustworthy, thorough and

industrious (Digman, 1990; McCrae & Costa, 1992; Mount & Barrick, 1995). In disparity to

people who are conscientious are people who are lazy, untrustworthy and spontaneous. Highly

conscientious individuals are seen to assess situations carefully before making decisions and

have a high attachment to their ethical obligations (Costa & McCrae, 1992). Hence, headteachers

that exhibit more conscientiousness are likely to engage in certain actions that are acceptable in a

group and would easily attract teachers to work with. Also since conscientiousness is linked to

20
the stated set of codes as mentioned above, headteachers who are highly conscious will achieve

successful results that their schools have been looking for.

2.3.2 Agreeableness

Agreeableness as a personality trait type entails qualities such as the likelihood of someone to

relate in a group, to be understanding, honest and warm (Goldberg, 1990; McCrae & Costa,

1987). The maintenance of social relationships has been identified as an outcome of individuals

high on agreeableness (Jensen- Campbell & Graziano, 2001). Also, they are observed to be

sensitive to the needs of their subordinates. This is in line with ethical leadership who are

described as being caring to the needs of their subordinates. People that show more agreeable

traits are likely to be able to get along with people in diverse situations and can be very effective

team players of which are all critical for the success of every leader (Avolio, Walumbwa, &

Weber, 2009). Considering the qualities embedded in individuals that are high on agreeableness,

it can be deduced that headteachers that possesses this trait will be able to work in team either

with teachers or non-teaching staff in order to achieve success in their various schools.

2.3.3 Neuroticism

Neuroticism also referred to as emotional stability refers to the tendency of an individual to

experience some self-perceptions that can negatively affect ones image. With neuroticism

comes the likelihood to experience negative emotions, such as anxiety and anger, more often

and more intensely (Walumbwa & Schaubroeck, 2009, p. 1278). Furthermore, leaders who are

high on Neuroticism are less likely to be perceived as ethical leaders as they will tend to be thin

21
skinned and hostile to others (Brown & Trevio, 2006, p. 603) and this can greatly affect their

relationships with people and also make them more difficult to be approached. Neurotics have

been observed to be more self-protecting and hence can easily engage in conflicts as a result of

this (Brissette & Cohen, 2002). Some researchers have identified neurotics as having a set of

stimuli that elicits negative emotions and hence have been identified as people who are insecure

(McCrae & John, 1992; Terry, 2015). In view of this, headteachers who are highly neurotic make

it difficult for teachers and students to relate with them. This makes them not to be open in their

activities for the fear of been victimized by the teachers or their colleague headteachers when

they go wrong.

2.3.4 Extraversion

Extraversion as a personality trait associated with positive emotions. Whereas negative emotions

are associated with neuroticism; extraversion is associated with one being sociable and easy

going. Extroverts are likely to communicate more in public places than introverts. Researchers

have asserted that extraverts are more likely to perform as better sales people and even managers

as compared to introverts or neurotics (Day, Schleicher, Unckless, & Hiller, 2002). This could

mean that headteachers who are extraverts have a positive self-image both for themselves and

others and hence find it not a difficult task socializing with others. Headteachers who are

extroverts are vibrant, assertive and talkative (Bono & Judge, 2004). They appear very appealing

and charismatic in nature and therefore are able command their subordinate to achieve their task.

2.3.5 Openness to Experience

Traditionally, openness to experience has been conceptualized as culture, that is, the way one

embraces another culture without stereotyping (Bono & Judge, 2004). This type of traits also

22
relates to how one makes decisions taking into account whether they have learnt something new

or what they have already been exposed to. Being introspective, insightful, resourceful and

creative is mostly linked to openness to expression (Bono & Judge, 2004). This means that

headteachers who are high on openness to experience can be open for ideas that may be different

from their thoughts and this is a very helpful trait in decision making. Again headteachers who

exhibit this trait dimension are able to work very well in the educational environment where

change is continuous and innovation embraced in other to achieve good results for the school.

2.4 Concept of Leadership

Leadership as a concept emerged from the theory of social influence on groups in folk

psychology (Fiedler, 1996). An assessment of what leadership really is within organizations

reveals that leadership is more than just the idea of one individual being at the top who steers at

the affairs of the entire group, to the extent that leadership has been perceived to be synonymous

to position. On the contrary, leadership involves influencing and directing the efforts of a group

towards the achievement of a specific goal (Elenkov & Manev, 2005). This kind of influence

could result from being in an official leadership position, which is by occupying an official rank

within the organization or the informal which is outside the well defines structures within the

organization. The leadership process has also been thought of to contain this process, from self-

leadership, informal leadership to formal leadership (Elenkov & Manev, 2005). Leaders sell their

vision to the group thereby empowering them to help achieve effectiveness within the

organization by seeing their personal vision within that of the leader.

Leadership has been classified into several classifications by Likert (1961), thus exploitative

approach which is a leadership approach where decisions are taken on behalf of subordinates and

they are informed. The employees do not have a say in the day to day operations of the

23
organizations, their role is to obey orders. Following is the benevolent autocratic who approaches

leadership from the paternalistic point of view. Here the leader although makes the final

decision, the followers look to him a s a father and not a bully, he is more or less seen as a figure

head and followers draw inspiration and security from him. The third approach Likert (1961)

outlined is the consultation style in which ideas are rather shared among the leader and

subordinates and the final decision reached is a consensus instead of listen and obey way of

leadership. However, central to these boils down to the ethical behaviour of the leader, the extent

to which a leader would want to listen to his or her subordinates or not could be an ethical issue.

Northouse (2013) posits that ethics is central to leadership. When ethics is considered in

leadership, the idea is not to say that there is a leadership style known as ethical leadership but

the idea is that no matter the leadership style, a leader functions is to apply ethical principles to

guide the day to day relationship with subordinates rather than it being a leadership style separate

from the others.

2.4.1 Ethical Leadership

Sadanadan, (2013) explained from the western tradition viewpoint that, ethics can be traced as

far back as the time of Plato (427-347 BC) and Aristotle (384-322 BC). The concept of Ethics

originated from the Greek word ethos which illustrates conduct or character. This refers to the

kind of character an individual or society perceives as desirable. For the purpose of this study,

ethical theories can be divided into two main streams, that is, theories about the conduct and

theories about the character of the leader (Northouse, 2013).

Furthermore, Northouse (2013) points out that two main ideas ought to be discussed when issues

of ethical theories of conduct are discussed, these are the consequences of a leaders action and

24
the duty that governs what was done. These are referred in the field of ethics as utilitarianism and

deontology respectively. These two theories have received much attention so far as debates in

ethical decision making are concerned (Conway & Gawronski, 2013). According to the

principle of deontology, what is ethical is due to the principle and not what surrounds it. That is,

a leader according to deontology ought to always exhibit what is generally termed as good

without compromise based on the conditions he finds himself in. However, it must be noted that

decisions being described as good or bad is based on context and the context one finds himself in

should play a huge role in the ethical decision they take. A critical assessment of the Brown and

Trevinos (2005) definition of ethical leadership points out to a rather utilitarianistic approach to

ethical leadership.

According to utilitarianism, what is ethical depends on the condition one finds himself and

ethical leadership will seek for the good of the many and not just the few satisfied. The term

normatively appropriate conduct by Brown et al (2005, p. 120) refers to conducts that are

expected (Zafar, 2013; Walumbwa & Schaubroeck, 2009). What is expected although may be

due to what one has always been doing, in this context, it means what one should do based on the

situation at hand. For instance, a leader will not be ethical if he has to make an employee work

up to the daily working hours considering complaints of illness and a negative sign of health,

such a leader is expected to excuse the subordinate off duty and cover up even it means bending

some rules.

Since ethical leadership is chiefly exhibited through relationship with followers, it shows that it

can be considered as a relational concept (Akker, Heres, Lasthuizen, & Six, 2009). That is, the

ethicality of a leader is observed as they interact with their followers on a day to day basis.

Ethical leadership can therefore be best assessed by the subordinates who relate with the leader

25
hence it is argued as a social construct that demands more than one rater. Words such as

considerate, trustworthy and morally upright are a few of many good adjectives that have

been used to define ethical leaders (Zafar, 2013). Ethical leaders are expected to be those who

will not just make decisions based on principles but more so based on the situations they find

themselves in and will seek to understand issues not just from their view point but also that of

their subordinates, thus agreeable and conscientious, whiles not compromising fully their moral

integrity. This needs more clarification; ethical leaders are expected to act as moral persons and

moral managers which in sum leads to the making of ethical followers (Trevio, Hartman, &

Brown, 2000). A study by Trevio, Hartman and Brown (2000) identified two ethical leadership

dimensions, that is, moral manager and a moral person. A moral person according to them is one

who exhibits those personal characteristics that are considered desirable and worth emulating.

An example is honesty, truthfulness and patience. However, leadership goes beyond just

possessing certain desirable characteristics, hence the issue of moral manager comes in (Brown

& Trevio, 2006).

Amoral manager refers to one who conducts himself in such a manner that influences the

behaviour of others; he does not only possess those traits, but also engages in a dyadic

relationship which amounts to influence (Zafar, 2013; Akker, Heres, Lasthuizen, & Six, 2009).

Akker, Heres, Lasthuizen and Six (2009) asserted that when a leader is perceived by followers to

be neither ethical nor unethical, it is likely that they will describe such a leader to be ethically

neutral. This nonetheless may be very different in some cultures. Culture plays a huge role in

defining what is ethical and what is not considering the setting (Zafar, 2013).

In Africa, Ghana, for that matter, a leader who may have been termed as ethically neutral in

some environments may be viewed as a coward, indecisive or having some agenda under his

26
sleeves, this is probable because what may be required as normal in a particular setting may be

perceived as completely abnormal and unaccepted in a different certain (Hofstede, 2001). In such

a culture, being outspoken about right and wrong plays a huge role in the dyadic relationship

between leader and follower, theres not much room for being careful about the stand of leaders

on ethical issues.

Both empirical and theoretical studies have linked ethical leadership to other leadership

constructs such as transformational and authentic leadership (Brown et al., 2005; Piccolo et al.,

2010), nevertheless, the act of ethical standards being meted out as well as rewards and

punishment for ones behaviour distinguishes ethical leadership as a distinct construct (Brown et

al., 2005; Piccolo et al., 2010; Walumbwa et al., 2011b). That is, ethical leadership does not just

seek to inspire or motivate but more specifically set standards straight and make punishable

offenses clear. This implies that for a successful achievement of goals in our educational sector,

head teachers should be able to set the right ethical standards and ensures that everybody adhere

to it.

2.4.2 Heifetzs and Burns Standpoints on Ethical Leadership

Ronald Heifetz (1994), a specialist who was likewise inspired by surveying top leaders, for

example presidents such as President Lyndon Johnson, Margaret Sanga and Mohandas Gandhi,

figured another methodology or point of view of taking a look at ethical leadership. As indicated

by him, the embodiment of a leader's position is to help devotees amid times of contention in

order to realize successful change. The ethical substance of this methodology is that it

concentrates on qualities; the attention on the estimation of the representative also that of the

association. Heifetz (1994) states that a leader ought to assume responsibility of their position to

27
address the contention of qualities specialists face amid their course of work inside the

organization. Moreover, as indicated by his point of view, leaders seem, by all accounts, to be in

a position of power and thus utilize their positions to call for fixation to ethical issues and basic

leadership. That is, the leader is to help the supporters when they experience any battles

concerning personality change.

This is in consistency with Brown and Trevino's (2005) musings concerning ethical

administration as in both perspectives, the leader is an ethical specialist who should realize

change inside the association and schools and also go about as a figure through which ethical

codes will be watched, in this way, a sign post. Moreover, the leader should make the essential

way and conditions that will make it simpler for adherents to show practices steady with ethical

leadership.

Burn (1978) achieved a viewpoint of profound quality and ethics that is like that of Heifetz

(1994). As per Burn (1978), there will be a subsequent impact of good conduct with respect to

supporters if the leaders will benefit themselves and help the adherents in taking care of some

clashing qualities. Be that as it may, this considered administration ethics from Burn (1978) did

not begin from him as discovered clear underway of a personality quality author like Abraham

Maslow, and in addition different authors, for example, Milton Rokeach and Lawrence Kohlberg

(Northouse, 2010). The effect these scholars have had on Burn's (1978) way to deal with leader'

ethics in organizations is reflected in the way that Burn (1978) remains on the position that

leaders have an obligation of assessing the profound quality and estimations of adherents and

helping then move up the stepping stool of good conduct and also forming their qualities (Ciulla,

1998; Northouse, 2010).

28
Regardless of the quality and common sense of these affirmations, Burn's (1978) point of view

on ethical leadership hasn't been without reactions. Case in point, some have asked How do you

choose what a better set of moral values is? Who is to say that some decisions represent higher

moral ground than others? If leadership by definition entails lifting individual moral functioning

does this mean that the leadership of corrupt leaders is not actually leadership? (Northouse,

2010, p.430) All things considered, it must be noticed that issues of ethic must start from some

place and the progression taken by Burn (1978) was a noteworthy stride ahead in working up the

hypothesis. Likewise, from the utilitarian point of view, it can be contended that a superior

arrangement of good values could be gotten from the expectation of the general good and what

could lead to the satisfaction of the majority good. Be that as it may, it is exceptionally far from

being obviously true when the issues of degenerate leaders are raised. Would degenerate leaders

be depicted as leaders by any stretch of the imagination? Do they, as indicated by Burn (1978) be

named leaders? Where do they fall in his hypothesis?

Besides, it seems both points of view of ethical leadership place more accentuation on the leader

surveying the ethical quality and estimations of the supporters, accordingly, putting leadership in

the hands of the one at the top. Nonetheless, different meanings of leadership tend to bring up the

fact that leadership is not necessarily the one at the hem of issues however the one creating the

impact inside the organization. Despite the fact that the fundamental individual at the top stands

in a significantly better position, he may not essentially be the change operator, obtaining from

the social learning hypothesis by Bandura (1986), leaders are by all account not the only models

inside associations that ought to be learned from in that supporters could be models also (Brown

et al., 2006). This implies that head teachers in the various schools must assume the

29
responsibility of their positions and address any unethical issues that the teachers may be facing

in the school.

2.4.3 The Social Learning Theory and Ethical Leadership

Brown et al. (2005), inferring from the social learning theory by Bandura (1977), explained some

causatives and aftermaths of ethical behaviours of leaders. The social learning theory explains

why the perception of employees about the ethical or unethical behaviour of leaders is affected

by the personality characteristics of the leader as well as situational influences. According to the

social learning theory, the credibility of leaders plays a huge role in followers perceiving them as

ethical leaders. The social learning theory (Bandura, 1977) supports the idea that followers learn

and emulate the behaviours of leaders so far as those behaviours are credible and attractive to

them. In other words, direct supervisors behaviour impacts subordinate behaviour whether for

the good or worse. That is, what is considered desirable and attractive is at the discretion of the

followers considering the contest they find themselves.

From the social learning theory, certain personality characteristics in an individual informs his

behaviour and thereby attracts or repel others since people look outside for direction, guidance or

imitation (Kohlberg, 1969; Trevio L. K., 1986). According to Bandura (1986), theres a great

likelihood for ethical leaders to be models in their organizations since they have a combination

of power and credibility which is attractive to subordinates. Hence being a model for followers

goes beyond just being in power but also having the required desired personality characteristics.

Furthermore, these characteristics are not just observed but also the ethical leader tends to

30
communicate ethical values to subordinates in order to maintain focus in the midst of other

messages such as winning at all cost mentality of most businesses. Based on this, it is advisable

for headteachers to conduct themselves in accordance with the code and conducts of G.E.S since

both teachers and students see them as role models.

2.4.4 Ethical Leadership and Personality Characteristics

Following the improved conceptualization and measurement of personality, the trait theory has

received resurgence due to the introduction of the Five Factor Model (Tupes & Christal, 1961).

The Five factor, popularly known in research studies as the Big Five takes a view of personality

by grouping them into five broad dimensions namely agreeableness (depicts one who is humane,

kind and accommodating), openness (one who is inventive, probing, artistic and shrewd),

extraversion (depicts individuals who are dynamic, self-confident and lively), conscientiousness

(one who is reliable, accountable, devoted and strong-minded) and neuroticism (nervous,

antagonistic and strained). Meta- analytical studies have shown that extraversion and openness to

experience account largely for effective leadership after controlling for the other traits (Judge,

Bono, Ilies, & Gerhardt, 2002) whiles neuroticism and agreeableness have a weak relationship

with leadership (Judge et al., 2002).

Brown et al. (2006) deduced from the studies above those traits such as neuroticism,

conscientiousness and agreeableness can have a significant bearing on ethical leadership.

According to Brown et al. (2006), personality traits like extraversion and openness to experience

are not allied to the ethical leadership concept, this was upheld by Walumbwa and Schaubroeck

(2009) and Kalshoven (2010). They argue that these two traits were linked to charismatic

leadership and that one could be opened to an experience or enthusiastic about something that is

not ethically related. However, studies done by Judge et al. (2002) linked extraversion to

31
transformational leadership and further found the relationship to be significant. Furthermore, if

charisma, which forms part of the idealized influence dimension of transformational leadership

which is connected to ethical leadership is linked to extraversion, then it is plausible to assert that

extraversion could be linked to ethical leadership, at least, further studies seems warranted to

assess this analogy which should also include openness to experience because in some cultures,

the curiosity of an individual may be perceived as fishy and unethical, especially within the

Ghanaian contest.

2.5 Additional Individual Characteristics as antecedents of Ethical Leadership

The way individuals think and apply ethics in their lives goes beyond personality traits as

defined in the big five. A theoretical literature review by Brown and Trevino (2006) proposed

some individual characteristics that may affect the ethical behaviour of an individual. These

include locus of control, moral judgment and self-monitoring.

2.5.1 Locus of Control

Locus of control explains and is concerned with the degree to which one attributes what happens

to him to outside his control or the degree to which one has control over what happens in his

environment. Locus of control is considered a characteristic that brings about differences in

individuals actions and behaviors within an organization (Twenge & Campbell, 2008). That is,

individuals will vary in how they accept control over their external environment. Making

enquiries into the locus of control of individuals is very important as the concept is seen to cause

differences in the way people will behave in an organization and the way leaders cope with what

happens around them.

32
When an individual believes that he has very little control over what happens around him or her,

the fellow is said to have an external locus of control. Such people believe that they are not in

charge of certain things that happen as luck plays a major role in life (Rotter, 1990). This people

normally believe that, to achieve something depends on where you are at a particular point and

being that ones actions have very little bearing on how circumstances might change.

On the other hand, one with an internal locus of control takes responsibility for everything that

happens around them and follows rules. Such individuals believe that they have maximum

control what happens in their environment and would blame themselves for short falls. Such

individuals can be very self-motivating and put in their best at what they do even of all external

help is gone. It has been observed that most individuals are externally controlled (Twenge et al.,

2001). This implies that head teachers should assume every responsibility of their actions in the

school. As explained, it is advisable for headteachers to always accept any responsibilities in the

school and try to improve upon it.

2.5.2 Moral Judgment

The difference with regards to the perception individuals have about what should be considered

as right in a situation is termed as Moral Judgment (Brown et al., 2006). Kohlberg (1969), after

interviewing boys from young adulthood and below established that there is an amount of

personal; independence and sophistication in the way people reason ethically as they climb the

age ladder. From Kohlbergs (1969) theory, at a stage in one's life, form a perception about what

is right or wrong based on obedience that is, conforming to a set of rules or based on the fear that

one would be punished. This he referred to as the pre-conventional level. At the conventional

level, individuals decide what is right or wrong based on what is the important people in ones

33
life expect from that individual. That is, those that matter to the individual, affect the way he

considers an action or decision to be right or wrong.

Kohlberg (1969) further outlined a level he termed the principled level, which refers to the

determination of right or wrong based on ones own intuition, will or assertion and not on what

the majority think as right or wrong. Some researchers have held that most adults make ethical

decisions at the conventional level; their perception of what is right is informed by rules and laws

that are set and also influenced by the significant others (Rest, Narvaez, Bebeau, & Thoma,

1999).

Turner et al. (2002) revealed in a study that transformational leaders are likely to apply high

moral reasoning when dealing with issues. That is, these leaders are likely to make honorable

decisions and hence would to a large extent be fair in their decision making as compared to

others who are influenced by their surroundings. Leaders who make principled decisions are

likely to be more ethically perceived by their followers (Brown et al., 2006). This supports the

idea that a higher level moral reasoning influences ones ethical behaviour. For this reason, it is

expected from the authorities of a school to give the right judgement to any case that they will be

handling since this will ensure confidence in their teachers and students.

2.5.3 Self-Monitoring

Snyder (1974; 1987) explain that, self-monitoring seeks to explain how attentive individuals are

with regards to how they present themselves to the outside world. High self-monitoring

individuals are more concerned about fitting in a group and adjusting short term behaviours to

make them acceptable, which can be very misleading as they tend to act like chameleons

34
changing their appearance or actions to fit in a group, however, their real habits lie within them

and, may show up in the long run. On the other hand, low self-monitors who are not so much

concerned with fitting in and hence their behaviour is more consistent across diverse settings. A

meta- analysis by Day, Scheicher, Unckless and Hiller (2002) revealed that self-monitoring has a

positive association with leadership behaviour and emergence. The study held that, people who

exhibit a low degree self-monitoring have the tendency to be more ethical as compared to those

with high self-monitoring. Day and Kilduff (2003) have described how self-monitoring as

principled and labeled high self-monitoring as pragmatic. In this regard, it is advisable for

headteachers to always present themselves in a way that they will be accepted in the

communities that they find themselves.

2.6 Situational Influences on Ethical Leadership

Three situational factors can be deduced from the social learning perspective as being influencers

of a leaders ethical leadership behavior; namely ethical role modeling, organizations ethical

context and moral intensity of the issues that besets a leader at the work place (Brown et al.,

2006). In other words, it has been observed that some factors surrounding an individual can have

an effect on assessing the ethical behavior of the leader or in judging his actions. These tend to

have a psychological impact on how one assesses an issue within the organization.

2.6.1 Ethical Role Modeling

The theoretical assertions of the social exchange theory serve as grounds for understanding the

rationale behind some leaders exhibiting ethical behavior and why others do not. Brown et al.,

argued that apart from leaders, followers could also assume models of ethical behavior s so far as

their behaviors are appealing enough to others. That is, by having ethical role models, leaders, as

explained by the social learning theory would through learning internalize some the behaviors
35
and hence may imitate them. This goes to say that role models a leader relates with at early

stages of his or her life affects the ethical behaviour of the leader himself later on his lifetime.

Trevio et al. (2000) conducted an interview whose results confirmed that having ethical role

models in ones life can influence the behaviour of a leader. Furthermore, another interview by

Weaver, Trevio, and Agle (2005) saw some individuals who had models of ethical behaviour at

the place of work. Weaver, Trevio and Agle (2005) outlined some characteristics of those

models such as thoughtful, sincerity, justice as well as the fact that these models would also

make them, aware of ethical standards as well as holding them accountable where there was

fault.

Due to the possibility of early moral development affecting ones behaviour as well as the

leaders performance in establishing an ethical tone within organizations, Brown &Trevio

(2006b) made enquiries into three specific role models which can influence ethical leadership.

First they looked at role models at the childhood stages of a leader, followed by that of career

role mentors and finally top managers. Their field study revealed that the role models leaders

have at their childhood stage were not related to their ethical behaviour. This could have

attributed to the fact that as one grows; changes do happen because of a change in environment

or culture. People hardly maintain the way they were at a younger age when they grow due to

experiences, peers or even other more intense relationships like having a family of their own.

On the other hand, top manager ethical behaviour was not enough to bring about ethical

behaviours in the leaders. However, this could be due to some cultural behaviours. In firms

where there is a long distant culture, it is likely that though top managers could exhibit ethical

behaviours, it would be unlikely that it would be emulated by junior leaders. It could also be

36
argued that a long distance cultural behaviour of managers could affect the ethical perception

held by followers.

2.6.2 Ethical Situation within the Organization

Trevio, Butterfield and McCabe (1998) were the first to posit that the ethical behaviour of a

leader could be influenced by the nature of morality that exists within the organization. That is,

the standard of morality that is generally reflected in the organization as a whole. Tenbrunsel,

Smith Crowe and Umphress (2003) also proposed that the organizational infrastructure has a

bearing on ethical leadership behaviours. When it comes to the ethical context of organizations,

there are multiple ways of approaching the study, however, most empirical study has used terms

coined as ethical climate (Victor & Cullen, 1988) or ethical culture (Trevio, 1990).

Ethical climate or culture can be defined as those attributes or uniqueness within organizations

that make the applying of ethical behaviours either possible or almost not possible (Trevio et

al., 1998; Brown et al. 2006). It can therefore be deduced that in firms where there are very low

ethical standards and therefore expectations through daily practices, the leader may not be under

any expected role to exhibit any behaviour consistent with ethical leadership.

Trevio (1986) also asserted that the culture that exists within organizations can influence the

ethical behaviour of individuals, however she added that this is subject to the level of moral

reasoning of the individuals. For instance, individuals who take decisions based on their personal

principles, thus, are less affected by the fear of punishment or fitting into a group are more likely

to behave ethically because they will be less influenced by their organizational culture. These

37
individuals due to their high degree of assertiveness can follow their guiding principles

irrespective of the withdrawals they may get from the peers. It must therefore be noted that this

could apply both for moral or immoral behaviours.

Furthermore, a development in the theory of ethical climate was made by Trevio and Nelson

(2007) when they explained the term with reference to the rewards systems within organizations,

the ethical codes, the way decisions are made and the structure of authority. These shape the

ethical climate within organizations, for instance, the way decisions are taken or the seriousness

attached to ethical codes can affect individuals perception of the ethical stand of the

organization, leaders inclusive. These assertions seem warranted by Trevino (1998) when she

established through a study that, firms have a strong overall ethical climate as described in terms

of their reward system, structure of authority and seriousness attached to their ethical codes

ended up affecting significantly the ethical behaviour of leaders and followers.

This she also found out that self-interest was negatively related to ethical behaviours. Perhaps an

important area of interest with respect to ethical culture is the fact that the reward system of

organizations affects ethically related behaviours. This was confirmed by both earlier studies and

later ones, that firms where rewards and punishment are meted out as expected improves ethical

leadership behaviour (Ashkanasy,Windsor, &Trevio, 2006; Hegarty& Sims, 1978; Tenbrunsel,

1998; Trevio, 1986).

These arguments support the fact that a rich ethical culture significantly affects the ethical

behaviour of leaders within the organization and is characterized by good role models which

goes a long way to affect the kind of behaviour followers will emulate. This could also be said of

organizations which do not pay attentions to having a good ethical climate and a leader who

38
finds himself there will have to match their style to fit their environment (Brown et al., 2006,

p. 602). However, a leader who holds in high esteem his values would like to opt out from that

organization in order to keep himself clean.

2.6.3 Degree of Morality of Issues faced

Before one goes through the ethical judgment process, the individual first recognizes that the

issue at hand is of moral content. That is, the basic idea underlining moral intensity is the degree

to which one recognizes that an issue is of moral content. Most studies on business ethics that

concerned with the moral awareness of the leader have focused on moral intensity (Brown et al.,

2006; Jones, 1991). Most researchers have concluded that the resulting effect of a particular

decision plays a huge role in identifying the moral intensity of the issue as well as the social

mindset with regards to the ethical nature of the issue under consideration (Butterfield, Trevio,

& Weaver, 2000; Flannery & May, 2000; Frey, 2000; May & Pauli, 2002; Singhapakdi, Vitell, &

Kraft, 1996).

Borrowing from the perspective of the social learning theory when a situation bears with it the

tendency to cause great harm to a group of people, there is increased attention on the decision

maker. Thus, all attention is focused on the decision leader who a choice is going to affect

individuals. This means that, when the decision maker or leader faces the situation and handles it

in an ethically supporting way then such a leader is more probably going to be professed as an

ethical leader.

On the other hand, if for some reason the leader approaches the situation in an unethical way

then he is likely to be perceived as an unethical leader. It must be added that in some culture

where there is a high degree of ethical culture what it means is that a leader who decides to be

39
ethically silent on an issue or tends to it on the fence may be perceived as not ethical and

courageous. Hence, moral intensity of a particular situation affects ethical leadership; when a

leader responds ethically he is perceived as an ethical leader, on the other hand if he responds

negatively he is perceived as an ethical leader. When carefully analyzed, it can be deduced that

the moral intensity of a situation coupled with the ethical context can greatly influence

perceptions of ethical leadership. When the ethical climate of a particular organization supports

ethical leadership, in an ethically intensive situation, there is a high probability that the leader

would exhibit behaviours that supports ethical leadership. On the other hand, an organization that

has a low ethical climate in the face of an ethically intensive situation, there is a high probability

that leaders would exhibit behaviours that are not ethical. This implies that, head teachers who

serve as the authorities in their various schools should set a high ethical climate which will also

raise the moral intensity in the school.

2.7 Ethical Leadership in Educational Institutions

Web (2009) define education as the ability to bounce back from failure after acquiring

knowledge, academics, technical, discipline, basic skills, citizenship, inspiration, ambition and

creativity. He argued that when it comes to the discussion of education, natural skills which

includes knowledge processing does not really count but rather what is being exercised grows

stronger and when it is ignored it will be dormant. This means that in the educational setting, the

classroom exercise, assignment and exams does not reflect the concept of education but rather

the quality and potentials of head of schools and the teachers since they impart all the features

mentioned above as being the aims and meaning of education.

40
Education is one of the most significant characteristics that influence personality trait of

individuals that is the way of thinking, interaction and comprehension in relation to social

phenomena (Mumford, Zaccaro, Harding, Jacobs & Fleishman, 2000; Naamia, Behzadia, Parisaa

& Charkhabib, 2014; Northouse, 2010; Yukl, 2010) as this characteristics also affect one ethical

behavior. This shows that headteachers of basic schools must portray good ethical behavior since

they are seen as figure heads and role models.

Leadership is not a single body that can stand by its own. One is not a leader without followers,

and so a leaders decisions and actions which come from ethical framework must always impacts

those who are being led (Vogel, 2012). The influence of leaders on groups of people magnifies

the impact and importance of leaders ethics, particularly in a democratic society where leaders

are expected to represent and express the shared values of followers. By stepping into

educational leadership roles, school and district administrators should accept responsibility for

the broader community welfare of the students, teachers, and parents that the school serves

(Marion 2005, p. 272).

These values serve as ethical framework that guide the headteachers to become the most urgently

people needed in their immediate community that they serve. As Zubay and Soltis (2005) point

out, education, itself, is essentially a moral undertaking because, it is concerned with the

development of human beings and human interactions. Teachers and school administrators

impact how young people make sense of themselves and their world, respond to others, and how

to carry out their roles as citizens, employees, family members, and friends.

Educational leaders must make decisions on which children are taught what (curriculum) and

how (instruction), strategies for garnering input from parents and community members, methods

41
for communicating current and desired educational results to all stakeholders (employers,

parents, teachers and students), and how to develop and implement change to ensure that all

children gain functional use of what has been identified as essential skills and knowledge in

order to increase equity of opportunity in adulthood.

With so many demands and so many influencing factors, educational leaders must have a clear

understanding of what Kouzes and Posner (2007) call ones own voice or personal guiding

values, if they are to successfully navigate contradictions and conflicts to provide stable and

positive leadership to improve schools and the educational experiences of all children.

2.7.1 Ethical dilemmas faced by school leaders

Headmasters in the educational sectors are able to perform well when they are clear with what

they believe and what they stand for. Ciulla (2003) posits that the head teachers usually face

challenges when making ethical decisions due to the multi-cultural school environment which

needs a high pedagogical and administrative competence and skills to deal with this complex

cultural codes and expectation. Ethical dilemma is not a choice between right and wrong but a

choice between two rights (Kidder, 1995). This become a big issue for headteachers to handle at

their work place especially when between teachers, students or teacher and student who think

their action they took was right. Headteachers are therefore to stand on their ethical principle and

resolve this kind of issues amicably without any party feeling betrayed or not given the fair

judgement.

42
2.8 Empirical Literature

Earlier studies in the field of ethical leadership and the big five personality relationship

suggested that two personality traits specifically agreeableness and conscientiousness are

positively associated with ethical leadership behavior whiles neuroticism has often been

negatively associated with ethical leadership. Researchers like Brown et al. (2005) opined that

extraversion and openness have little to no congruence with the ethical leadership construct and

hence cannot be associated.

Walumbwa and Schaubroeck (2009) conducted a study in the United States which sought to

ascertain whether ethical leadership mediated the association between leader personality traits

and employee voice behavior using major financial institutions as their population. The study

consisted of 894 employees who rated the ethical behavior of 222 immediate supervisors using

the data aggregation technique. That is, two employees rated a supervisor each with their scores

aggregated at the unit level. They argued on the assertions of Brown et al. (2005) and hence did

not include traits like extraversion and Openness to experience in their analysis since they

believed those two traits were not linked to ethical leadership. The study employed a five item

scale from Goldberg's (1990) personality inventory to measure agreeableness whiles

conscientiousness and neuroticism were measured with a 16- item brief version of Goldberg's big

five markers.

Ethical leadership on the other hand was measured using the ELS scale developed by Brown et

al. (2005), a ten itemized other rated scale, however it was observed that employees opted not to

respond to item ten which according to their analysis was because respondents didn't perceive

the item as affecting the overall ethical perception they had about leaders. A factor analysis using

varimax matrix of the nine (9) items showed a high loading (average loading = .87) with a total

43
variance of 87% explained. After the analysis using the structural equation model, the results of

the study were that leader agreeableness was positively related to ethical leadership r= .37 and

was significant at (p<.01), the same relationship was found for conscientiousness (r= .29,

p<0.01), however an insignificant negative relation was found for neuroticism (r= -.11, p<0.01).

The insignificant relation could be as a result of the ethical climate within the organization

(Brown et al., 2006).

Although the study provided clarification for not including the other two traits (extraversion and

openness to experience), the explanation was not valid because a meta-analytical study by Judge

and Bono (2004) revealed that transformational leadership which has highly been linked to

ethical leadership (de lacerda, 2010) was positively related to the extraversion personality trait.

This calls for further probing into the relationship between these two traits and ethical leadership.

Furthermore, the neglect of an item on the questionnaire was probably an effect on the findings

because the item (item 10 on the ELS scale) that was left out has an impact on measuring the

overall ethical leadership behavior of supervisors as well as the reliability of the scale.

A similar study by Kalshoven (2010) a year later filled the gap in the earlier study (Walumbwa

& Schaubroeck, 2009) by including the other two traits (openness to experience and

extraversion). The study was conducted in the Netherlands using 91 managers with average age

of 39 (SD=11) and 182 subordinates with average age of 30 (SD=10.5) through the data

aggregation technique. The study justified aggregation of ethical leadership ratings by

calculating a one-way analysis of variance. Participants worked in different sectors including

finance, construction and the healthcare. The same instrument as the earlier study was used in

measuring the personality trait of the leader. However, in this study all the five personality traits

44
were included in the analysis. The study also adopted the ELS scale as used in the earlier study

by Brown et al. (2005) to measure the ethical behavior of leaders.

A multiple regression analysis revealed that it was only conscientiousness that was significantly

positively related to ethical leadership when all traits have been controlled for (r=.26, p< .01), a

relationship significantly lesser than the earlier study. Although the study observed that there was

no relationship between emotional stability (neuroticism) and ethical leadership, in their study 2,

the trait was found to be related to overall ethical leadership behavior role clarification, a result

that was contradictory to that of Walumbwa and Schaubroeck (2009) after controlling for LMX

(but also did not control for LMX). Although the study controlled for other factors, it failed to

recognize the possible effect of other human characteristics such as ethical role modeling and

locus of control as predicted by Brown et al. (2005), the current study takes this into

consideration.

However, a contrasting result was found by Bormann (2013) when the study examined the

personality traits of supervisors in selected firms in Germany in relation to their ethical behavior.

The study employed the business focused personality inventory by Hossiep and Krger (2012),

an eight item scale in measuring the personality trait of 207 supervisors. The ethical leadership

behavior of leaders were measured using the ethical leadership scale by Brown et al. (2005), the

German authenticated version by Rowold et al (2009). The employees that rated their supervisors

were 1263 according to the data aggregation technique where two subordinates rated per leader.

The various relationship between the personality traits of leaders and their ethical behavior were

measured using the partial least-squares (PLS), (Chin, 1998), a technique opposed to covariance,

hence non parametric in nature. The results of the study indicated that, in contrast to previous

studies (Walumbwa & Schaubroeck, 2009; Kalshoven, 2010), big five traits like extraversion

45
was positive and significantly ( = .33, t = 4.10, p .01) related to leader personality trait. Again

in contrast to the study by Kalshoven (2010), there was a significant positive relationship ( =

.45, t = 6.12, p .01) between agreeableness and ethical leadership behavior. However, this was

in agreement with the findings of Walumbwa and Schaubroeck (2009). However, in the study by

Bormann (2013), other traits were not controlled for.

Timothy, Judge, Bono, Ilies and Gerhardt (2002) provide a qualitative review of the trait

perspective in leadership research, followed by a meta-analysis. The authors used the five-factor

model as an organizing framework and meta-analyzed 222 correlations from 73 samples.

Overall, the correlations with leadership were neuroticism -0.24, extraversion -0.31, openness to

experience 0.24, agreeableness 0.08, and conscientiousness 0.28. Results showed that more than

90% of the individual correlations of the relationship of neuroticism, extraversion, openness to

experience, and conscientiousness with leadership were greater than zero.

Extraversion was the most consistent correlate of leadership across the study settings and

leadership criteria (leader emergence and leadership effectiveness). Overall, the five-factor

model had a multiple correlation of 0.48 with leadership, indicating strong support for the leader

trait perspective when traits are organized according to the five-factor model. In this study, the

researchers indicated qualitative review but end up doing quantitative. This is a clear violation of

the procedures involved in doing qualitative study. Also, the sampling strategies, designs were

not indicated in the study. The current study caters for all that.

46
Observations in all the studies above indicate some inconsistencies in the results obtained.

Besides, the most striking result in the study of Bormann (2013) was the fact that a trait such as

extraversion which was identified as being negatively related to ethical leadership (Walumbwa &

Schaubroeck, 2009; Kalshoven, 2010; Brown et al., 2005) was found to be positively related to

the ethical leadership construct.

2.8.1 The Big Five Personality Traits and Ethical Leadership

The big five personality concept distinguishes human personality into five main factors namely

Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism or

emotional stability (Costa & McCrae, 1992; Digman, 1990). Although relationship between the

big five traits and leadership behavior such as effectiveness are reported to be weak positively,

the big five have been observed to be consistent using this similar research methods. Coupled

with this, the big five traits have been observed by researches to be genetically based and

generalizable across diverse cultures (Digman & Shmelyov, 1996; McCare & Costa, 1997),

hence researchers have used the big five to provide a lot of theoretical and empirical findings

including ethical leadership.

As compared to the other leadership theories such as path goal theory or situational theory, the

consistency in the nature of ethical leadership behavior requires stable human foundational

disposition. In this study, the researcher aims in finding out how some stable traits such as

Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism or

emotional stability affects a leaders ethical behavior.

47
2.8.2 Relationship between Openness to experience and Ethical Leadership

Openness to experience refers to degree of which an individual makes decisions based on their

creativity, imaginative and originality (McCrae, 1987). That is how a leader is able to solve

problem or accomplish a goal based on new ideas he has acquired (Henderson, 2004). But

surprisingly, this trait was excluded in earlier studies (Walumbwa & Schaubroeck, 2009). The

argument raised was that, one can be exposed to an experience that is necessarily not ethical

(Brown et al., 2005). That is new experience could have no ethical or unethical content.

However, culture cannot be taking out when it comes to what people perceive to be ethical. What

may be ethical in one setting may not be regarded as ethical in another setting (Donaldson,

1996). Hence if a leader makes decision based on experience he has acquired from one setting

then he is likely to be perceived as ethical within that environment. But if a leader makes

decision which does not conform to the culture of that environment, he may be perceived as

unethical. However, leader who are always curious, creative, intellectuals and open to new ideas

are able to accomplish their task. It is being hypothesized in this study that openness to

experience will be positively linked to ethical leadership.

Hypothesis 1a: Openness to experience will have a positive effect on ethical leadership.

2.8.3 Relationship between Conscientiousness and Ethical Leadership

Conscientiousness has been used to predict various leadership outcomes such as high

performance of leaders within organizations (Barrick & Mount, 1991; Walumbwa &

Schaubroeck, 2009). This is because conscientious people are less likely to be distracted by

others when on duty and maintain a high disciplined level of morality (Costa & McCrae, 1992).

They are perceived to be competence, organized, dutiful, achievement striving, self-disciplined

48
(John & Srivastava, 1999) and hence work is usually entrusted into their care. Costa and

McCrae (1992) emphasized that conscientious individuals are very thorough with their duties

and very reliable. Leaders high on conscientiousness take into account personal responsibility

and hence do not push blames to others (Witt, Burke, Barrick & Mount, 2002). Based on this, the

researcher proposed the hypothesis that:

Hypothesis 1b: Conscientiousness will have a positive effect on ethical leadership

2.8.4 Relationship between Extraversion and Ethical Leadership

Extraversion refers to the likelihood of an individual to be outgoing and taking pleasure in the

company of others. They are perceived to be outspoken and very active. The opposite of

extraversion are traits like shyness and timidity. Digman (1990) adds that extraverted individual

tends to be attention seekers. That is, they demand attention to what they do and are very

passionate in communicating what they do to a group. With reference to previous studies, both

empirical and theoretical, extraversion as part of the big five personality trait was left out in

terms of predicting ethical leadership behavior. To begin, Brown et al. (2005) asserted that

extraversion was not linked to ethical leadership construct as it measures traits like charisma

which is very different from ethical leadership.

As a result, studies such as that of Walumbwa and Schaubroeck (2009) ignored this trait in

predicting ethical leadership based on that premises. However, Kalshoven (2010) included

extraversion in his analysis of personality trait-ethical leadership but an insignificant correlation

(r= .02, ns) between extraversion and ethical leadership. Bormann (2013) argued that leaders

who are very vocal and out spoken in public, comes clear in where they stands pertaining to
49
issues likely to be perceived as more ethical than those who are silent and does not make known

what they thinks about ethical situation. In view of this, the researcher formulated a hypothesis

that:

Hypothesis 1c: Extraversion will have a positive effect on ethical leadership

2.8.5 Relationship between Agreeableness and Ethical Leadership

Agreeableness refers to traits such as straightforwardness, forgiving, warm, compliance,

sympathetic and modest (John & Srivastava, 1999). Individuals high on agreeableness are

expected to be trusted by others (Costa & McCrae, 1992). Scholars have expressed that

individuals high on agreeableness are more likely to engage in constructive tactics to enable

them help others (Jensen-Campell & Graziano, 2001) and this is a key attribute of ethical

leadership. Furthermore, Brown et al. (2005) established that agreeable people are concerned

with those behaviors that make them treat others with respect and tactfulness. They are therefore

trusted by their followers and hence are generable admirable (Tobin, Graziano, Vanman &

Tassinary, 2000). Based on this, the researcher proposed a hypothesis that:

Hypothesis 1d: Agreeableness will have a positive effect on ethical leadership.

2.8.6 Relationship between Neuroticism and Ethical Leadership

The neuroticism dimension throw lights on individual differences in negative emotionality

(Costa & McCrae, 1992). Generally, neurotic people are less likely to be perceived as leaders

(Hogan, Curphy, & Hogan, 1994). This is because, leaders with this trait are normally anxious,

shy, moody, depressed, vulnerable and show angry hostility (John & Srivastava, 1999) and thus

such leaders are less likely to be seen as leaders (Bono & Judge, 2004; Kalshoven, 2010).

50
Neurotics engage in self- perception of issues that could largely affect the way they relate with

situations.

Leaders high on neuroticism are less likely to motivate their followers and hence cannot

encourage positive and inspiring work attitude (Lim & Polyhart, 2004). Mayer et al., (2007)

explain that leaders who are neurotic only share information that is easy or less emotionally

stimulating. This implies that neurotic leaders do not communicate openly and honestly about

their expectations of their subordinates (Kalshoven, 2010). Based on this, the researcher

hypothesizes that:

Hypothesis 1e: Neuroticism will have a negative effect on ethical leadership

2.8.7 Leader Gender and Ethical Leadership

Gender is regarded as the most studied demographics variable in the history of personality

variables (Goldberg et al., 1998). This could arguably be so because the gender of an individual

plays a huge role in predicting his or her temperaments and can be linked to the ethical behavior

of such individual. Brown et al., (2005) outlined that some personality variables such as gender

should be investigated as a possible moderator in the study of ethical leadership. In this study,

the gender variable is being investigated as a possible influencer of ethical leadership behavior.

Feingold (1994) earlier established through analysis that in the domain of extraversion, men vary

hugely from women.

However men are also less agreeableness than females. This may imply that, considering the

relationship of the individual traits to ethical leadership, the gender of a leader can influence the

tendency to be ethical. Although women may be perceived to be more ethical than men, it must

be noted that other environmental factors play a huge role in determining the ethical behavior of

a leader (Brown et al., 2005). Some of these factors including ethical context of the organization

51
 and moral intensity of issues faced have been argued out in the review of relevant literature in

the study. The researcher considering the setting of the study is there for hypothesizing that there

will be a significant difference in ethical behavior due to gender of leaders.

Hypothesis 3: There will be a significant difference in ethical behavior of leaders due to

their gender.

Table 2.1 Summary of Research Gap in Literature

Names of Authors Title of Paper Statistical Findings Research

gap
Method

Fred O. Walumbwa, David Linking ethical Regression Significant

Mayer, Peng Wang, Hi leadership to Analysis positive The study

Wang, Christina Workman employee relationship did not

identify the
and Amandi I. Christensen performance: The between ethical
antecedent of
(2005). roles of leader leadership and ethical

member exchange, employee leadership

behavior
self-efficacy, and performance

organizational

identification.

K. Kalshoven (2010) Ethical leadership Multiple Positive The study

concentrated
and big five factors Regression relationship
on only one
of personality Analysis between ethical
firm, hence
leadership and results
generalizabili

52
 agreeableness, ty cannot be
confirmed
extraversion and

conscientiousness

Fred O. Walumbwa and John Leader Personality Structural Agreeableness The study
was limited
Schaubroeck (2008) Traits and Employee Equation and
in terms of
Voice Behavior: Modeling conscientiousness
the sample
Mediating Roles were positively size used in
the study,
related ethical
of Ethical hence lacked
leadership,
Leadership and analytical
whereas significance.
Work Group
neuroticism was
Psychological Safety
unrelated.

Joyce E. Bono and Personality and Pearson Personality traits The study
concentrated
Transformational Correlation like extraversion
Timothy A. Judge (2006) on only
and Transactional and was positively
leader related
Leadership: Regression. related to behavior;
however
transformational
A Meta-Analysis personality
leadership
traits go
beyond
leader-
related
behaviors to

53
 human
behavior
such as
ethical
behavior.

Insignificant The study

lacks the use
Cherie E. Fretwell, Carmen C. Relationship
Myers-Briggs Type of more
Lewis and Maureen Hannay between Internal
Indicator, A/B robust
logistic
(2013). Locus of Control inferential
Personality Types,
regression statistics to
and Judgment,
and Locus of report major
analysis
feeling and
Control: Where Do findings.
thinking
They Intersect?

Michael E. Brown and Linda Ethical leadership: Multiple Positive The study
lacks support
K. Trevio (2006) A review and future regression relationship
of empirical
directions analysis between ethical
evidence as
leadership and its assertions
on purely
internal LOC but
theories
a negative

relationship

between external

LOC and ethical

leadership

54
Bormann, W.C (2013) Understanding Partial Positive The study
failed to
Ethical Leadership: least- relationship
assess the
An Integrative squares between
effect of all
Model of its Conscientiousnes five
personality
Antecedents, s, extraversion
trait
Correlates, and agreeableness
dimensions
on ethical
Contingencies and
leadership
Outcomes.

55
2.9 Conceptual Model of the Study

The simplified conceptual model of leaders personality traits and ethical leadership has been

shown below demonstrating how the various personality traits variables concerned relate to each

other in influencing ethical leadership. The model Fig. 2.2 below shows how leaders personality

traits influence or have effect on ethical leadership. The model implies that any personality trait

exhibited by the leader could either affect positively or negatively his or her ethical leadership.

Figure 2.2: Conceptual Framework

Big Five Personality Traits Ethical Leadership

Openness to Experience

Conscientiousness

Extraversion
ETHICAL LEADERSHIP

Agreeableness

Neuroticism

Source: Researchers Review of Literature

56
2.10 Operational Definition of Terms

This section outlines the definitions of some of the terms present in this study in order to get a

better understand of how they are being used in this study.

Ethical Leadership: Ethical leadership has been defined as the demonstration of normatively

appropriate conduct through personal actions and interpersonal relationships, and the promotion

of such conduct to followers through two-way communication, reinforcement, and decision-

making (Brown, Trevio, & Harrison, 2005, p. 120). In this study, ethical leadership has been

conceptualized as the exhibition of moral values and principles that comes to be identified as

ones own persona and which affects the lives of others within the environment.

Personality Traits: Personality in this study is defined as a combination that classifies an

individuals behavior; those characteristics that underline the decision making of an individual

(Mayer, Nishii, Schneider and Goldstein 2007). Its made of extraversion, agreeableness,

neuroticism, conscientiousness and openness to experience.

Extraversion: Is defined in this study as the traits involving being sociable and developing

interest for people as well as trusting them (Kalshoven, 2012).

Agreeableness: In this study is defined as how one gets along with other people, the degree to

which one is willing to compromise his affections for the sake of others (Walumbwa et al.,

2010).

57
Neuroticism: Also known as emotional instability refers to the degree to which one has bad self-

image. People with high neuroticism have a negative self-image of themselves (Brown&

Trevino, 2006).

Conscientiousness: Is defined as individuals with strong will power, dependable and can make

plans and achieve them (Brown et al., 2005).

Openness to experience: Also known as intellect is defined in terms of the decision making

ability of a person. That is, how people would inculcate new ideas exposed to in making

decisions (Bono& Judge, 2004).

58
 CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction

This chapter presents a description about the research design and approach, population of the

study, sample size and sampling techniques. In addition, the chapter provides an account of the

instruments that were used to collect data and its validation, describe how data was analyzed.

3.1 Research Design

A research design represents the master plan that will be followed with a view to collect the

required information for the solving of the research problem and its objectives (Tustin,

Lighthelm, Martins & Van Wyk, 2005:82). The study used a descriptive cross sectional survey

design. The descriptive design enabled the researcher to describe the personality traits of the

selected leaders as well as their ethical leadership behavior. A descriptive cross sectional survey

was employed since it also provides the accurate portrayal or account of the characteristics such

as behavior, opinions, abilities, beliefs and knowledge of a particular individual, situation or

group. Hierarchical Multiple Regression was adopted because the study sought to find out the

effect of the big five personality traits on ethical leadership as well as the personality traits with

the most variance on ethical leadership.

Furthermore, the survey method was used to collect original data for describing a population too

big to observe directly (Mouton, 1996). A survey obtains information from a sample by means of

self-report that is the people respond to a series of questions posed by the investigator (Polit &

Hungler, 1993).

59
3.2 Research Approach

The study used a quantitative approach with the aid of questionnaires in collecting primary data.

The study using a quantitative approach employed statistical and numerical analysis. Aliaga and

Gunderson (2002) describe quantitative research approach as an investigation into a social

problem by explaining phenomena through the gathering of a numerical data and analyze them

statistically.

3.3 Population

The target population of interest for the study was head teachers and teachers from thirty (30)

public and private basic schools in the Ga Central Municipal Educational Directorate who have

worked with the school for not less than one year. There are nineteen (19) public schools and

fifty-six (56) private schools within the entire municipal with population of 620 teachers. The Ga

Central Municipal Educational Directorate was chosen due to the easy access of obtaining

information from respondent.

The headmasters and the assistant act in leadership capacities in the various schools and can best

be rated by their immediate subordinates who are the teachers. Both public and private schools

were chosen because they are all guided by the code and ethics of Ghana Education Service and

under the supervision of the municipal assembly and hence had a lot in common. The education

sector was chosen for this study due to the ethical and unethical practices that continues to

plague this sector. Issues of examination leakages plagued with corruption and the mass

extortion in the form of bribes before admitting students have become an open secret as the

country was ranked number one on these malpractices among schools in Africa (Transparency

International, 2010).

60
3.4 Sample Frame and Sample Size

The sample frame for the study was 30 basic schools within the Ga Central Municipal

Educational Directorate. The names of the schools in which the study was conducted can found

in Appendix B.

Sample size can be defined as the proportion of the sample that is representative enough of the

entire population and whose findings can be generalized to the entire group (Hayes, 2008;

Salkind, 2011). Due to the large size of the population of the study coupled with time constraints,

the researcher sought the need to select a sample out of the population. Based on this, the sample

size for the study was one hundred and eighty (180) participants.

This sample size was deemed appropriate based on the recommendations made by Tabachnick

and Fidell (2007) which specify that a study that involves the use of multiple regression, the

appropriate sample size (N) should be (N>50 + 8M)

Where N = sample size

M = the total number of independent variables

In view of this the sample size required for this study will be fifty eight (58) [i.e., 50 + 8(1) =

58]. From the Fidell and Tabachnick (2007) formula, not less than 58 respondents are to be

served with questionnaires.

Therefore the sample size of 180 respondents more than satisfies the recommended sample size

for the present study.

61
3.5 Sampling Technique

The study employed a multi stage sampling technique (convenience, simple random and

purposive sampling technique) in selecting the respondents.

Firstly, thirty (30) schools were selected using the convenience sampling method that is those

schools where the headmasters were willing to participate in the study. Furthermore, sixty (60)

supervisors (headmasters and assistants) per school were purposively chosen because they were

the specific people within the population in which the researcher want to study. Purposive

samplings is the process of selecting people with the required knowledge or experience and are

willing to provide needed information (Bernard, 2002; Lewis & Shephard, 2006).

Teachers were also chosen from the school where the headmasters were already selected. Simple

random sampling technique was used to select teachers from the various schools. Moore and

McCabe (2006) define simple random sample as A simple random sample (SRS) of a size n

consists of n individuals from the population chosen in such a way that every set of n individuals

has an equal chance to be the sample actually selected. This sample technique gave every

teacher equal chance of being selected for the study. To achieve this, the researchers defined the

population, chose a sample size, listed all the population, assigned numbers to the units and

perform a random sampling to get the sample size. In all, a total of one hundred and twenty (120)

teachers were selected.

3.6 Data Collection Instrumentation

The main instrument for the study was questionnaire. A questionnaire is a form that enables a

participant in a study to complete a statement by marking choices to questions and supplying the

62
basic demographic information Creswell (2003). Standard questionnaires were adopted in the

current study. The questionnaires that were used in the current study were divided into two main

parts A, and B.

To begin with, the first part A, focused on collecting supervisors (headteachers and their

assistants) demographic data such as their age, years spent in the school, gender and educational

level as well as their personality traits.

In part B, the researcher collected data from the teachers demographics followed by their rating

of the ethical leadership of their supervisors. There were instructional guidelines that helped the

respondents on how to answer the questionnaires by ticking the answers.

3.6.1 Demographic Characteristics

The study collected data on some demographic characteristics of respondents. That is,

demographics such as age, gender, level of education and the years spent in the school was

enquired to better understand the view points of the respondents.

3.6.2 Measuring Ethical Leadership

The ethical leadership behavior of leaders was measured using the ethical leadership scale

developed by Brown et al. (2005). Individual subordinates were asked to rate the ethical

leadership behavior of supervisors. It is a ten itemized scale with sample items such as My

leader listens to what employees have to say", "My leader disciplines employees who violate

ethical standards" and My leader conducts his/her personal life in an ethical manner".

Responses are arranged on a five point Likert scale of 1 to 5 as follows Strongly Disagree = 1,

Disagree = 2, Neutral = 3, Agree = 4, Strongly Agree = 5. Scores on the scale range from 10 to

63
50 with higher scores indicating that the leader is more ethical. A study by Walumbwa and

Schaubroeck (2009) sought to establish a relationship between the big five personality trait and

ethical leadership reported a reliability of 0.90. A similar study by Kalshoven 2010 reported an

internal reliability of 0.86.

3.6.3 Measuring Personality Trait

Leader personality traits were measured using the Big Five Inventory (BFI) by (John et al., 1991;

John et al., 2008). It contains a 44-item inventory that was developed to assess the domains of

the Big Five Personality of Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and

Neuroticism. Soto & John (2009) asserts that BFI also contains 10 facets scales, two for each

domain that are used to examine personality characteristics within each domain. A 5-point Likert

scale ranging from 1= Strongly Disagree to 5 = Strongly Agree was given to head teachers to

indicate their level of agreement. For example I am someone who is a reliable worker, I am

someone who can be trusted

3.6.4 Validity of the Instruments

Validity is the degree of accuracy of a scale measures what it is intended to measure (Collis &

Hussey, 2009). Validity comes in two forms: content and construct validity. For the purpose of

this study, the researcher used face validity. Face validity involves using the right instrument by

asking people who have the skillfulness and the knowledge in the field to find out whether the

measure reflects the concept. Based on this, the researcher presented the questionnaire to three

experts at the University of Professional Studies who made a review of the items measuring the

individual constructs to ascertain whether they measured the exact constructs they are required to

measure.

64
3.6.5 Reliability of the Instruments

To ensure reliability of the instrument, a test re-test technique was employed. Reliability ensures

that the instrument being used should be able to reproduce the same results at different

occasions. Hayes, (2008) also opined that reliability measure the extent to which measuring

instrument are far from random-error variance.

A pilot study was done by administering the questionnaires to thirty (30) respondents in different

district within the interval of three weeks. The reliability was calculated using Cronbachs alpha

to obtain the internal consistency reliability coefficients. Hair et al., (1998; 2002) recommended

that instruments used in basic research have reliability value of about 0.70 or better in other to be

acceptable to show internal consistency. Nunnally & Bernstein (1994) regard a value of 0.6 and

above as satisfactory.

3.6.6 Pilot Study

Before the main study, a pilot study was conducted in October, 2016 using ten (10) basic schools

within the Ga South Municipality. The pilot study provided the researcher with an overview of

the cost feasibility of the main study and how to treat likely problems associated with collecting

information from respondents (Egyiri, 2015). The researcher explained to the teachers that leader

as used in the questionnaire represents the headteachers and their assistants. The pilot study was

conducted using a sample of 30 participants that is, 10 headteachers and 20 teachers. The

reliability of the instrument in the pilot study for two different occasions is presented in the

below:

65
 Table 3.0 Cronbach Alpha () of Test-retest Reliability at different time lines.
(N=30)
Number Time Time
Scale of items One Two
Ethical Leadership 10 0.76 0.83
Extraversion 8 0.61 0.64
Neuroticism 8 0.54 0.63
Agreeableness 9 0.62 0.66
Openness to experience 10 0.67 0.70
Conscientiousness 9 0.78 0.81

3.7 Ethical Consideration

Ethical measures such as informed consent (Alabi, 2009; Babbie, 1990; McMillan &

Schumacher, 2010), safeguarding against manipulation of participants (Arthur, 2012; Bogdan &

Biklen, 2007; Kusi, 2012), confidentiality and anonymity were adhered to (Cohen et al 2007;

Johnson & Christensen 2008; Kusi, 2012; Neutens & Robinson, 2010). As a result, respondents

in the study were briefed on their right to take part in the study or withdraw from the study at

their own volition. The respondents were also provided with detailed instructions on how the

questionnaires were to be completed and returned. The reason behind providing clear

instructions and assuring confidentiality of information provided was to significantly reduce the

likelihood of obtaining biased responses (Alabi, 2009; Kusi, 2012).

66
3.8 Data Administration Procedure

The current study made use of survey method of data collection. An introductory letter received

from the University of Professional Studies was attached to the questionnaires and given to the

headteachers and their assistants informing them of the purpose of the exercise and its relevance

to the field of academic work. Although 36 schools were contacted but only 30 schools showed

consent to participate in the exercise. In order to make the pairing easier, the researcher labeled

the questionnaire to be given to the headmasters as A and that of the assistant headmasters as

B. Participants were asked not to write their names on the questionnaire.

First questionnaires were given to the headteachers and their assistants to complete both their

demographics and personality traits. Secondly the teachers were given their questionnaires and

asked to complete their demographics and rate the ethical leadership of their supervisors. The

researcher explained to the teachers that the leader in the ethical leadership questionnaire

represent their headteachers and assistants. Two teachers were selected randomly to rate their

headteachers and other two to rate the assistant headmaster.

In order to reduce the impact of common method variance in data, the researcher applied

procedural remedies recommended by Podsakoff, Mackenzie, Lee and Podsakoff (2003).

Firstly, source of data were different for both the predictor and response variable which is

personality traits and ethical leadership. Besides after administering the questionnaire an interval

of two to three weeks was given before the researcher collected the data back. This was to enable

the respondents to have some ample time and answer the questionnaire objectively. Moreover,

due to mishandling of questionnaire during the pilot study, follow up was made to collect

67
questionnaire that were already filled and additional questionnaire were given to those who had

misplaced their questionnaire. Due to this challenge, it took about three months to fully

administer and retrieve all the required number of questionnaire for the study.

3.9 Data Analyses

The independent variable for the study was personality traits and the dependent variable was

ethical leadership. The purpose of the study was to determine the influence of the big five

personality traits on ethical leadership. To achieve this, both descriptive and inferential statistics

were computed. Descriptive statistics was conducted to gather information about the

demographic characteristics of the participants in the study. This included their age, gender, level

of education and tenure at post.

The variables in the study were totaled and an average taken for individual leaders.

Demographics such as gender was entered as a dichotomous variable; this variable has only two

groups of responses, for example Male = 0, Female = 1. The study employed mainly multiple

regression on the assumption that the data are normally distributed do not violate the

multicollinearity and linearity (Field, 2009). Hence the researcher conducted a Shapiro Wilk test

of normality to assess the data. To assess for the linearity of variables assumption, the Pearson

moment correlation was conducted to assess the relationship between variables in the study such

as gender, age, level of education, ethical leadership and personality traits.

Hierarchical multiple regression was used to test for the effect of leader personality traits on

ethical leadership as stated in the first hypothesis. For the second hypothesis which sought to find

out which of the personality traits variables causes the most variance in ethical leadership, hence

68
hierarchical multiple regression was employed. This was followed by the third hypothesis which

employed an independent sample t-test to determine whether there is a significant difference in

ethical leadership behavior due to leaders gender. Mean and standard deviation were also used

to provide descriptive view of the leaders personality traits and ethical leadership.

Before testing the hypotheses, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to determine

whether the items on the scales would still correspond to the construct they are intended to

measure considering the change of study setting as compared to other studies. The CFA was

computed using AMOS SPSS 20 program. All the other analysis was conducted using SPSS V.

20.

69
 CHAPTER FOUR

RESULTS AND DISCUSION

4.0 Introduction

This chapter presents the analysis of the data that was collected from the respondents in line with

the research objectives that was set for the study. The chapter first begins by presenting the

demographic information of the respondents, that is, the age, gender, level of education, and

tenure at post for both the leaders (headmasters and assistants) and the subordinates (teachers).

This is then followed by some preliminary analysis such as test of normality, reliability tests,

validity tests and finally Multicollinearity. In order to justify aggregating data of ethical

leadership at the unit level, a kappa analysis (inter-rater reliability) was performed as well as the

interclass correlation.

These analyses are considered as data examination and are the necessary tests that have to be

carried out to prove that the data collected from the field are clean from errors as well as fit for

some parametric tests such as regression. This is then followed by the main analysis of data for

the study; firstly, hierarchical regression is performed to assess the effect of the big five

personality dimensions on ethical leadership. This analysis was preferred to the simple

regression analysis because the researcher also sought to identify the personality dimension that

has the most variance in the ethical leadership construct. Finally, an independent sample t-test

was performed to examine whether there is a difference in ethical leadership due to the gender of

leaders. The chapter ends with a discussion of the findings that was arrived at, in the analysis.

70
4.1 Descriptions of Participants

This section described the participants in this study with respect to their gender distribution, age

distribution, level of education and the tenure at post. A summary of the characteristics of

subordinates (teachers) and leaders (headteachers and assistants) respectively are presented in the

table below:

Table 4.1 Demographic Characteristics of the sample

Frequency statistics for subordinates (teachers) N=120

Data Variables Items Frequency Percentage

Gender Male 83 69.2

Female 37 30.8

Age 22-30 years 73 60.8

31-39 years 42 35

40 years and above 5 4.2

Level of Education Diploma 22 18.3

First Degree 87 72.5

Second Degree 11 9.2

Tenure at Post 1-5years 47 39.2

6-10years 70 58.3

Above 10 years 3 2.5

Source: Survey data, 2017

71
4.1.1 Gender distribution

Table 4.1 above present gender distribution of respondents, it was found that 83 of the

respondent representing 69.2% were males whereas 37 of the respondents representing 30.8%

were females. The justification for obtaining this information was to find out the ratio of male to

female teachers within the municipality. It was obvious from this analysis that the males were

more than the females. This can be as a result of male teachers having more interest in teaching

within the municipality as compared to female teachers.

4.1.2 Age Distribution

The table above again showed age distribution of respondents. It was found that a summation of

the frequency of the respondents whose age range falls within the youthful workforce (2239)

was 105. This represents 95.8% of the total age range of the respondents, who are perceived to

be the very young and active group full of exuberant energy and more years to work for their

schools. Five (5) respondents representing 4.2% were also above the age of 40. This age group

has some few years to retiring. This means that they have contributed a lot of their quota to the

development of their various schools.

4.1.3 Education Distribution

Education is one of the most significant characteristics that influence personality trait of

individuals (i.e. the way of thinking, interaction and comprehension in relation to social

phenomena (Mumford, Zaccaro, Harding, Jacobs & Fleishman, 2000; Naamia, Behzadia, Parisaa

& Charkhabib, 2014; Northouse, 2010; Yukl, 2010). This suggests that the response of an

individual is likely to be determined by his educational status most especially in the education

sector. Therefore, it becomes imperative to study the educational background of the respondents

72
in order to determine how educational level has influence their work in the teaching service.

Hence the variable Educational level was investigated.

Result in table 4.1 above has shown that greater number of respondents were highly educated as

87 of the respondents representing 72.5% were first degree holders. 11 of the respondents

representing 9.2% hold masters degrees whereas 22 of the respondents representing 18.3% hold

diploma certificate. This shows that there are more learned graduate teachers in the municipality.

4.1.4 Tenure at post Distribution

Teachers number of years of years in the current school was examined. The rationale for finding

out this information was to enable the researcher determines whether years of experience in a

particular school has any influence on their work performance. From the table 4.1 above it is

obvious that majority of the teachers had stayed in the school as at the time of data collection for

a period of 6 to 10 years. The number representing this was 70 which is equivalent to 58.3% of

the teachers who responded to the questionnaire. Forty-seven (47) of the teachers representing

39.2% had stayed in the school for a period between 1 to 5 years. Whiles three teachers (3)

representing 2.5% had stayed in the school for more than 10 years.

Abdolzahra, Elham, Hosseini, and Morteza (2014), Abdullah, (2013), Achua and Lussier (2010)

and Ahmad, Ather, and Hussain (2014) found in their study that there is a positive correlation

between number of years of experience as a leader or subordinate to job satisfaction and

performance. Since more of the teachers representing 58.3% have stayed in the current school for

more than 5 years, it shows that teachers within the municipality are satisfied in their various

schools.

73
Table 4.2 Demographic Characteristics of the sample

Frequency statistics for supervisors (head teachers and assistants) N=60

Data Variables Items Frequency Percentage

Gender Male 42 70

Female 18 30

Age 24-35 years 14 23.3

36-40 years 29 48.3

Above 40 years 17 28.3

Level of Education Cert A 2 3.3

Diploma 5 8.3

Degree 38 63.3

Second Degree 15 25.0

Tenure at Post 1-5years 34 56.7

6-10years 21 35

11 and Above 5 8.3

Source: Survey data, 2017.

74
4.1.5 Gender distribution

Table 4.2 above present gender distribution of headteachers, it was found that 42 of the

respondent representing 70% were males whereas 18 of the respondents representing 30% were

females. The researcher deemed it appropriate to obtain this information because of the assertion

than men are perceived to be better suited and more effective as leaders than women (Carroll,

2006; Eagly, Makhijani, & Klonsky, 1992). From the table, it was seen that headmasters within

the municipality were more than that of the headmistress. This can be as a result of male teachers

working hard and meeting all their criteria and as a result of that are able to apply for the

headship positions.

4.1.6 Age Distribution

The table 4.2 above again showed age distribution of respondents (headteachers). It was found

that out of the 60 supervisors, 14 of them representing 23.3% were within the age of 24-35. 29 of

these headteachers were within the age of 36-40 representing 48.3% while those above 40 years

were only 17. From this analysis it can be seen that Ga Central Municipal Educational

Directorate has majority of their headteachers within their youthful age that is from 24-40 years

who will be using their youthful exuberant energy and skills to improve the performance of the

school. As only few of the headteachers were above 40 years, it shows that the educational

directorate has more promising future leaders to handle the various schools in the municipality.

75
4.1.7 Education Distribution

Education is one of the most significant characteristics that influence personality trait of

individuals (i.e. the way of thinking, interaction and comprehension in relation to social

phenomena (Mumford, Zaccaro, Harding, Jacobs & Fleishman, 2000; Naamia, Behzadia, Parisaa

& Charkhabib, 2014; Northouse, 2010; Yukl, 2010). This suggests that the response of an

individual is likely to be determined by his educational status most especially in the education

sector. Based on this, the study sought to find out the educational background of the respondents

(headteachers) in order to determine how educational level influences their work in the teaching

service.

Result in table 4.2 above has shown that greater number of headteachers were highly educated as

38 of the respondents representing 63.43% were first degree holders. 15 of the respondents

representing 25% hold masters degrees whereas 5 of the respondents representing 8.3% hold

diploma certificate. It was only 2 of the headteachers representing 3.3% were Cert A holders.

This shows that there are more learned graduate headteachers in the municipality. Headteachers

who are well endowed in knowledge are able to make significant and measurable contributions

to the effectiveness and improvement of their schools (Mulford, 2003).

4.1.8 Tenure at post Distribution

Headteachers number of years of years in the current school was also examined. The rationale

for finding out this information was to enable the researcher determines whether years of

experience in a particular school has any influence on their work performance. From the table

4.2 above it is obvious that majority of the headteachers had stayed in the school as at the time of

data collection for a period of 1 to 5 years. The number representing this was 34 which is

76
equivalent to 56.7% of the headteachers who responded to the questionnaire. 21 of the

headteachers representing 35% had stayed in the school for a period between 6 to 10 years.

Whiles the remaining 5 headteachers representing 8.3% had stayed in the school for more than

11 years.

Abdolzahra, Elham, Hosseini, and Morteza (2014), Abdullah, (2013), Achua and Lussier (2010)

and Ahmad, Ather, and Hussain (2014) found in their study that there is a positive correlation

between number of years of experience as a leader or subordinate to job satisfaction and

performance. Since more of the headteachers representing 91.7% that is 55 out of 60 supervisors

have stayed in the current school between a period of 1 to 10 years, it shows that headteachers

within the municipality are satisfied with their work.

4.2 Preliminary Analysis

Before the main hypothesis of the study was tested, a number of preliminary statistical analyses

were carried out to describe the sample selected for the study (for instance normality distribution,

frequency, mean), that is, descriptive and summary statistics were tabulated. The data predictor

variables were inspected for Multicollinearity, besides, issues of outliers and validity was also

examined. Finally, the researcher also addressed how missing data was handled in the study and

their impact to the overall findings of the study.

4.2.1 Handling Missing Data

A total of 120 subordinates responded to the questionnaire for measuring ethical leadership

whiles and 60 supervisors responded to the questionnaire for personality traits. After a detailed

inspection of the questionnaires, it occurred that four (4) subordinates left out an average of three

77
questions on the ethical leadership scale. However, the overall missing data was very minimal.

Since each subordinates rating of ethical leadership behaviour was computed based on an

average of the items on the scale, any missing value was replaced with an average of the

questions of subordinates on that particular item (Warner, 2008; Williams, 2015). Therefore, the

missing data challenge faced did not affect the analysis and results of the study.

4.2.2 Data Examination: Checking for Errors, Outliers and Testing Normality

Upon resolving issues of missing data as outlined above, other issues such as outliers needed to

be inspected and sought out. One of the most important activities that should never be neglected

in data analysis is data examination. Haier (2001) explained that though data examination could

take much time, it enables the researcher to deal with the impacts of possible outliers, missing

data due to wrong data entry or respondents unwillingness to fill some part of questionnaire

which could otherwise affect the results in some data analysis, mainly regression (Haier et al.,

2011; Salkind, 2011). Since regression analysis was employed in the current study, it was

prudent to assess some assumptions such as normality, enormous missing data, outliers that

could impact the data, Multicollinearity and linearity. An outlier can be described as any score

on a set of data with a different characteristic from the remaining data. Hair et al. (2010)

described outliers as an abnormally high or low data figure on a variable. Issues of outliers were

experienced with some of the items, hence the impact of these outliers attracted attention,

however after a cursory comparison of the means of the respective items, it was observed that the

difference was not significant. Therefore, it is plausible to conclude that the outliers would not

create much problems in the current analysis, hence those data were retained (Pallant, 2013).

The preliminary analysis prior to the main analysis was conducted in a three stage process.

Firstly, the normality of the salient variables in the study was assessed using the Shapiro- Wilk's

78
test of normality based on the null hypothesis that the data is normally distributed. From the

tables below, it can be inferred that the data was normally distributed and hence was fit for

further analysis that involved the use of parametric tests such as mentioned before. As a result,

all the variables in the data set were used in the regression analysis. Furthermore, other

descriptive statistics such as the mean and standard deviation of the study variables were

computed. This was followed by the Pearson correlation of the variables in the study. In order to

justify data aggregation of ethical leadership at group level, inter rater reliability analysis using

the kappa analysis on inter-class correlation as well as the kappa analysis was conducted. In

order to ensure that the scales used for collection of data was internally reliable and consistent,

an internal reliability analysis was conducted using the Cronbach alpha (). According to

Nunnally (1978) opined that an alpha value of 0.70 or above constitutes a reliable scale.

Table 4.3 Normality and Cronbach Alpha test for Ethical Leadership instruments

Cronbach Alpha, Normality test and Descriptive Statistics of Study- EL N=180

Variables Shapiro Wilk Cronbach () Mean S.D
Statistic Sig

Ethical Leadership .986 .128 0.81 3.82 1.25

Note: EL- Ethical leadership

79
Table 4.4 Normality and Cronbach Alpha test for Big Five Personality Traits

Cronbach Alpha, Normality test and Descriptive Statistics of Study PL N=180

Variables Shapiro Cronbach Mean S.D
Wilk ()
Sig
Statistics
Extraversion .992 .548 .708 2.98 1.26
Conscientiousness .983 .065 .733 3.32 1.31
Agreeableness .975 .248 .725 3.17 1.43
Openness to experience .983 .530 .733 2.86 1.30
Neuroticism .985 .643 .797 3.50 1.68

Note: PL- Personality trait

4.2.3 Validity of Measures

Although research in the area of ethical leadership and personality trait in Ghana have been done

relating to other fields, most of such studies used their own measures whiles others used other

standard questionnaires (Tankoh, 2011; Sarpong, 2011; Celettia, 2011). The researcher therefore

intended to assess the overall fitness of the two instruments by way of construct validity since

they were new in this setting (Ghana). Based on the assertions of Hu and Bentler (1999), the

factor results obtained from this study was acceptable and hence the overall fitness of the two

instruments was validated. Below is a summary of the results of the factor solution for the two

variables:

80
Table 4.5 Measurement models for the two study variables

Fit Measures CFA-ELS CFA- PS

N 180 180
CFI 0.94 0.91
RMSEA 0.08 0.07
2/df 1.41 3.42

Note: ELS: Ethical leadership scale, PL: Personality scale.

4.2.4 Multicollinearity Testing of Study Variables

Multicollinearity is regarded as one of the key assumptions to be examined within a set of

predictor variables before running a regression analysis. Multicollinearity as an assumption is

produced when any single predictor variable is highly correlated with a set of other predictor

variables (Reyes, 2013, p. 39). Although the assumption of Multicollinearity of predictor

variables can be assessed through a correlation matrix output, the researcher sought the need to

assess this assumption using the VIF and Tolerance rule as it is more robust than the correlation

matrix (Hair et al., 1995). Using this rule, a tolerance level of less than 0.20 and Variance

Inflation factor (VIF) of 5 or more is considered an anomaly and requires further inspection (De

Vaus, 2002 p 345). The output table below indicates that for all the predictor variables

(personality trait variables) the VIF ranged from 1.160 to 1.389 and tolerance from 0.720 to

0.862, hence this assumption was not violated. Thus this study did not experience

Multicollinearity problems.

81
Table 4.6 Multicollinearity Diagnostics of Predictor Variables

Construct Collinearity Statistics

Tolerance VIF
Conscientious 0.862 1.160
Neuroticism 0.857 1.166
Extraversion 0.744 1.345
Openness to experience 0.720 1.389
agreeableness 0.821 1.218

4.2.5 Justifying Data Aggregation of Ethical leadership Statistics

A variety of research designs have proved that a single level analysis of some constructs are not

without merits, however, some constructs are better assessed on a multi-level (Dixon &

Cunningham, 2006). In other words, some social constructs are best assessed on the group level

instead of individual assessment. To achieve this, data aggregation must be employed.

Ethical leadership is considered as a social construct, that is, ethical leadership is viewed as best

assessed by more than one rater instead of a single rater assessing the ethical behaviour of

leaders. This would help take care of single measure biases. As a result, various studies in ethical

leadership employed the group level ratings of ethical leadership behaviour (Kalshoven, 2010;

Walumbwa & Schaubroeck, 2009; Asma, 2013). The current study followed suit to rate ethical

leadership on the unit level. That is, two subordinates rated one supervisor each per school. In

order to justify data aggregation at the group level, the study employed the kappa analysis tool as

well as the intra-class correlation. The kappa analysis computes how well two raters agree and is

82
regarded as a better tool as compared to the use of percentages of their agreement because of the

issue of random choices (Cohen, 1960). Hence kappa analysis goes beyond raters random

selection (Wood, 2007). According to the analysis, a kappa value of above 0.06 is considered as

acceptable level of agreement among raters in the social sciences (Wood, 2007). From the output

below, it can be inferred that the kappa value 0.631 satisfies considering the threshold; hence

aggregating data at the group level is justified. Although the output reports kappa significance

0.000, this is not of interest to researchers; the interest however is whether the kappa value 0.631

is high enough to be warranted use in research settings.

Table 4.7 Kappa Analysis of Ethical Leadership Aggregation

Symmetric Measures
Value Asymp. Std. Approx. Tb Approx. Sig.
a
Error
Measure of Agreement Kappa .631 .048 13.457 .000
N of Valid Cases 60
a. Not assuming the null hypothesis.
b. Using the asymptotic standard error assuming the null hypothesis.

4.2.6 Assessing consistent response of raters on Ethical Leadership

The researcher further computed for the intra-class correlation (two-way mixed model technique)

which is a tool for assessing how consistent the responses of raters on a subject are (Bliese, 2000;

Castro, 2002). Although the output reveals both the single measure (ICC1) and average measure

(ICC2), the study is only interested in the (ICC2) since it examines the group means on the basis

of all the assessments within the group which contrasts with ICC1 which measures how reliable

the mean of a group is based on how it relates to a single assessment, that is, how individuals are

interchangeable within a group (Bartko,1976; Bliese, 1998; James, 1982; McGraw & Wong,

1996; Shrout & Fleiss, 1979). In assessing the reliability of the average measure value in this
83
study, it must be noted that "Common practice suggests that values of 0.70 and higher are

acceptable, values between 0.50 and 0.70 are marginal, and values lower than 0.50 are poor"

(Klein et al., 2000, p. 518). Hence it can be deduced that the average measure value 0.901 in the

study more than meets the threshold, that is, aggregating data for further analysis is justified.

Table 4.8 Intra-class Correlation Table for Ethical Leadership Aggregation

Intra-class Correlation Coefficient

Intra-class 95% Confidence Interval F Test with True Value

Correlationb 0

Lower Bound Upper Bound Value Sig

Single Measures .819a .759 .866 10.072 .000

Average
.901c .863 .928 10.072 .000
Measures

Two-way mixed effects model where people effects are random and measures effects are fixed.

4.2.7 Linearity Testing

Linearity as used in statistics refers to the correlation among variables. It is more often

represented in a straight line. Hair et al. (2010) asserted that linearity is a necessary test in

multivariate analysis such as association, multiple regression and factor analysis. On this

backdrop, linearity has to be tested to identify any anomalous relationship that may impact the

correlation among the variables. Linearity assumes that the relationships between variables are

linear to each other.

84
Field (2009) opined that linearity can be tested using Pearson correlation as well as the use of

scatter plots. In order to verify whether study variables were linear among each other, this study

used the Pearson correlation to test the measures. It appeared that the variables were linear to

each other whiles others showed very significant relationships with the dependent variable. The

result of the test (see table 4.9) showed that all the variables are linear with each other.

From the matrix below (table 4.9) it can be deduced that some of the personality variables

(extraversion, conscientiousness and agreeableness) had a positive significant relationship with

ethical leadership. On the other hand, a personality variable like neuroticism was negatively

related to ethical leadership. However, as expected, openness to experience was unrelated to the

ethical leadership construct. From the table it can be infer that gender was insignificant to ethical

leadership.

85
Table 4.9 Correlation matrix of study variables
Subordinate variables 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

1 Gender(leader) 1
2 Age(leader) -.007 1
3 Level of education(leader) .015 .041 1
4 Extraversion .056 .113 -.113** 1
5 Conscientiousness -.013 .121 .041 .150** 1
*
6 Openness to experience -.154 .173 .371 .256 -.030* 1
** *
7 Neuroticism .044 .213 -.121 -.241 -.29** -.271** 1
8 Agreeableness -.033 .115** .232** .310* .140* .238 -.101 1
9 Ethical Leadership .023 .024 .112 .274* .512* -.015 -.034 .157* .591*
**.correlation is significant at 0.01 level (2-tailed)
*.correlation is significant at 0.05 level (2-tailed)
(N = 180), Source: survey 2017

86
4.2.8 Descriptive statistics of Study Respondents

Table 4. 10 Descriptive Statistics of Study- EL N=180

Variables Shapiro Wilk Cronbach () Mean S.D
Statistic Sig

Ethical Leadership .986 .128 0.81 3.82 1.25

Note: EL- Ethical leadership

Table 4.11 Descriptive Statistics of Study PL N=180

Variables Shapiro Wilk Cronbach () Mean S.D
Statistics Sig
Extraversion .992 .548 .708 2.98 1.26
Conscientiousness .983 .065 .733 3.32 1.31
Agreeableness .975 .248 .725 3.17 1.43
Openness to experience .983 .530 .733 2.86 1.30
Neuroticism .985 .643 .797 3.50 1.68

Note: PL- Personality trait

Table 4.10 indicates the mean of all the headmasters in the selected schools in the Ga Central

Municipal Educational Directorate. From the table, it can be explained that the total mean of the

ethical leadership of the headteachers as rated by the subordinates (teachers) was 3.82 which

goes to indicates that the headteachers within the selected area of study averagely do not show a

very high sense of ethical leadership behavior. This was determined by the scale of 1 = very low

ethical leadership behavior, 2 = low ethical leadership behavior, 3 = average ethical leadership

behavior, 4 = high ethical leadership behavior and 5 = very high ethical leadership behavior.

87
Furthermore, an observation of the personality variables statistics indicates that most leaders

were high on neuroticism with an average of 3.50 and a standard deviation of 1.68 as compared

to the other traits like extraversion with mean of 2.98, conscientiousness with mean of 3.32,

openness to experience with mean of 2.86 and agreeableness with a mean of 3.17.

This analysis implies that, most of the headteachers who rated their own personality have a high

neurotic trait as compared with the other traits and therefore, do not show a very high ethical

leadership behavior.

4.3 Hypothesis Testing

In testing of the main hypotheses of the study, hierarchical multiple regression and independent

sample t-test were used for the study hypotheses. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to

predict the outcome of the response variable based on the individual sub-constructs of

personality traits in the study. Again it was also used to test the trait with the most variance on

ethical leadership. The difference in ethical leadership due to gender was tested with independent

sample t-test. It must be noted that because teacher ratings of ethical leadership was aggregated

based on the recommendations of early researchers in this field, the degrees of freedom in the

analysis reflect the number of leaders who are being rated, which is the focus of the study

(Walumbwa & Schaubroeck, 2009; Kalshoven, 2010; Asma, 2012), however the overall sample

size was 180.

Hypothesis One

Hypothesis 1a: Openness to experience (x1) will have a significant positive effect on ethical

leadership

88
Hypothesis 1b: Conscientiousness (x2) will have a significant positive effect on ethical leadership

Hypothesis 1c: Extraversion (x3) will have a significant positive effect on ethical leadership

Hypothesis 1d: Agreeableness (x4) will have a significant positive effect on ethical leadership

Hypothesis 1e: Neuroticism (x5) will have a significant negative effect on ethical leadership

Hypothesis Two

H2: Leader conscientiousness will account for more variance in ethical leadership behaviour

than all other traits.

The study finally tested the first hypothesis by examining the relationship between the individual

sub items of the big five personality traits and ethical leadership behaviour. Hierarchical

regression was used to ascertain the individual variance. The output of the analysis is displayed

below:

89
 Table 4.12 Results of Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analyses for the predictive effect
of personality traits variables on ethical leadership behaviour

Model B Std. Error p R-squared change

1 (Constant) 1.752 .186 .020

Conscientiousness .379 .056 .661* .006 .437

2 (Constant) .785 .308 .001

Conscientiousness .375 .051 .654* .010
Extraversion .238 .064 .333* .040 .111
3 (Constant) 1.26 .354 .001

Conscientiousness .368 .049 .642* .000

Extraversion .310 .068 .434* .010
.043
Neuroticism -.175 .072 -.230* .039

4. (Constant) 1.253 .349 .001

Conscientiousness .369 .049 .644* .000
Extraversion .236 .080 .330* .005
Neuroticism -.251 .084 -.329* .044
.020
Openness to .154 .091 .223 .097
Experience

5. (Constant) .939 .341 .008

Conscientiousness .382 .054 .667* .000
Extraversion .194 .076 .272* .013
Neuroticism -.225 .079 -.295* .076
Openness to .059 .091 .085 .519
Experience
Agreeableness .199 .065 .290 .074 .057

.*p < .05

90
From the results of the analysis above, it has been revealed that leader conscientiousness

(=.661, p< .05) and extraversion (=.333, p< .05) were significant positively related to ethical

leadership behaviour. Leader conscientiousness contributed to a 44% variance in ethical

leadership whiles extraversion caused 11% variance in ethical leadership behaviour. On the

contrary, as expected, neuroticism (= -.230, p< .05) was negatively related to ethical leadership,

however, it contributed to just 4.3% variance in ethical leadership behaviour. Openness to

experience (= .223, p> .05) and agreeableness (=.290, p> .05) did not had any significant

influence but were positively related to ethical leadership. From the analysis, hypothesis 1b and

1c was fully supported even after controlling for the effects of other traits. Hypothesis 1e was

partially supported whiles hypothesis 1a and 1d was not supported. The main aim for using this

analysis was to identify the most significant contributor to ethical leadership after all other traits

have been statistically controlled for. From the analysis, it appears that after controlling for all

other traits, conscientiousness appeared to be the trait that causes the greatest significant variance

in ethical leadership followed by extraversion.

In nutshell, the hypothesis two that leader conscientiousness will account for more variance in

ethical leadership behaviour than all other traits was fully supported.

91
Hypothesis Three

There will be a significant difference in ethical leadership behaviour due to gender of leaders.

In order to ascertain whether leaders' ethical behaviour differs due to their gender, an

independent sample t-test was computed using male and female leaders as the test groups. The

results have been displayed below:

Table 4.13 Independent Sample T-test output for gender and ethical leadership

Group Statistics

Gender of leaders N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean

Male 39 6.7788 .88596 .14187

Ethical Leadership
Female 21 7.0238 .81645 .17816

Independent Samples Test

Levene's Test for Equality of t-test for Equality of Means

Variances

F Sig. T df Sig. (2- Mean

tailed) Difference

Equal variances
.370 .545 -1.049 58 .298 -.24496
Ethical assumed
Leadership Equal variances not
-1.076 44.076 .288 -.24496
assumed
*p is not significant @ .05 level of significance

From the output table above it can be inferred that there is no statistically significant difference

in the ethical leadership behaviour (t (58) = -1.049, p>.05) of male leaders (M= 6.78, SD= 0.89)

and female leaders ((M= 7.02, SD= 0.82). That is, there is enough statistical evidence to

conclude that the hypothesis three is valid. Hence hypothesis three was not supported.

92
Table 4.14 Summary of Study Hypotheses Results

Study Hypothesis Analysis Results

1a. Openness to experience will have a Hierarchical Regression Not supported

significant positive effect on ethical

leadership

1b. Conscientiousness will have a Hierarchical Regression Fully supported

significant positive effect on ethical

leadership

1c. Extraversion will have a significant Hierarchical Regression Fully supported

positive effect on ethical leadership

1d. Agreeableness will have a Hierarchical Regression Not supported

significant positive effect on ethical

leadership

1e. Neuroticism will have a significant Hierarchical Regression Partially supported

negative effect on ethical leadership

2. Leader conscientiousness will Hierarchical Regression Fully supported

account for more variance in ethical

leadership behavior than all other traits.

3. There will be a significant difference Independent sample t-test Not supported

in ethical leadership behaviour due to

gender of leaders.

93
4.4 Discussion of Results

4.4.1 Introduction

The purpose of the study was to identify the influence of the big five personality traits on ethical

leadership. Moreover, the study sought to observe whether there was a significant difference in

ethical leadership behavior with respect to gender and also the personality trait variables with the

most variance on ethical leadership. After the analysis of data, evidence was provided in backing

the hypothesis that conscientiousness was the only personality trait that explained the most

variance in ethical leadership behavior. The study also revealed that there was no significant

difference in ethical leadership behavior due to gender. Since some of the hypotheses in the

study were not supported, the researcher came out with a post study conceptual framework to

reflect the findings of the study. This made the researcher to conceptualized two variables

namely conscientiousness and extraversion and referred to them as Ethical Leadership Traits

because they were significantly related to ethical leadership as stated in other studies.

Below are the discussions of the findings under the main headings using the research objectives

as the title;

4.4.2 To determine the effect of personality traits variables on ethical leadership.

The first objective sought to determine the effects of the five personality variables

(Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Neuroticism, Openness to experience and Agreeableness) on

Ethical leadership. Based on this hypothesis was developed and the hypothesis was divided into

five sub hypothesis. As highlighted earlier, the results of the study after controlling for all the

other variables revealed that leader conscientiousness and extraversion were the only personality

94
variables that had a significant positive effect on ethical leadership. However, personality

variables such as openness to experience and agreeableness were not significantly related to

ethical leadership although a positive relationship was found. Traits such as Neuroticism was

also not significant related to ethical leadership though it had a negative relationship with the

dependent variable (ethical leadership).

The results of the study show much correspondence with the findings of Kalshoven (2010) and

Walumbwa and Schaubroeck (2009). In his study (Kalshoven, 2010), after controlling for all

other personality variables, it was only conscientiousness that was related to the ethical

leadership construct. As expected, traits such as openness to experience and agreeableness were

unrelated. Walumbwa and Schaubroeck (2009) also found a negative relationship between

Neuroticism and ethical leadership whiles observing a positive relationship between

conscientiousness and ethical leadership though they did not control for other variables.

On the contrary, Bormann (2013) after propounding an integrative model of ethical leadership

realized a positive and significant relationship between ethical leadership and extraversion. It

must be noted that perception of ethical leadership is not independent of ones culture setting

(Judge, 2002). therefore change in setting could result in the diverse results as found between

extraversion and ethical leadership in Bormanns research. This implies that headteachers who

are perceived as not ethical in a particular school can perform very well when been transferred to

a different school due to the changes of culture within the school environment.

As expected, conscientiousness was positively related to leader ethical behavior. This means that

headteachers who are organized, self-disciplined, competence and achievement striving always

perform their responsibilities within the school making their subordinate to perceive them ethical

95
leaders. The uniqueness of this study so far as the first hypothesis is concerned is the rather large

effect of conscientiousness on ethical leadership (R-squared= 0.437). This is because previous

studies have realized a rather low variance in ethical leadership due to conscientiousness

(Kalshoven, 2012; Walumbwa & Schaubroeck, 2009). A critique by Bormann (2013) revealed

that this could be as a result of a methodological approach to most studies conducted on

personality traits and ethical leadership.

4.4.3 To identify the personality trait variable with the most variance on ethical leadership.

The objective two sought to find out which personality will have the most variance on ethical

leadership. In order to verify this assertion, a hierarchical regression analysis was conducted

among the headteachers in the Ga Central Municipal Educational Directorate. After the analysis,

it was seen that conscientious trait caused the most significant variance in ethical leadership

behavior after all the other traits have been controlled for. A Kalshoven (2012) finding was also

in agreement with the current study as he also found out that, conscientiousness was the only

trait that was significant to ethical leadership. Headteachers who are conscientious always strive

to achieve the aims and objectives of the school and therefore are seen as role models which is

linked to ethical leadership (Mayer, Kuenzi & Greenbaum, 2011).

96
4.4.4 To examine whether there is a significant difference in ethical leadership due to gender

of leaders.

Objective three sought to establish whether there was a significance difference in ethical

leadership behavior of leaders due to gender. The hypothesis was thus written There will be a

significant difference in ethical behavior of leaders due to their gender. This analysis was

conducted in accordance with the propositions of Brown et al. (2002) who proposed that due to

some characteristics that are inherent in women which differs them from men; that is, women

tend to take decisions based on care and are very emotional, on the other hand men are justice

conscious and take decisions that reflect what should be rightly done without so much thoughts

about how the other party would feel. However, the result of this current study presupposes that

there is no statistically significant difference in ethical behavior due to gender of leaders. This

supports the findings of Balasubramanian and Krishnan (2012) who investigated similar relations

based on the theory proposed by Gilligan (1982) which posits that since men have some

characteristics that are contrary to ethical values, they are less likely to be ethical as compared to

women, that is, women have been described to the thoughtful, emotional and caring and hence

would make decisions that are influenced by these traits. Based on the result of the current study,

it can be emphasized that, headteachers within Ga Central Municipal Educational Directorate do

not show any significant difference when it comes to ethical leadership behavior. This can be

attributed to the perceptions the teachers in the municipality have about the regional educational

director Miss Diana Dennise Oye Welberg that, she is a strict leader who always want to achieve

her target and based on this does not tolerate any unethical behavior from either the headteachers

or the teachers.

97
 CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.0 Introduction

This chapter sought to outline the summary of the main findings of the study and its conclusion.

Furthermore, the chapter takes a look at the theoretical contributions this research has made in

the field of ethical leadership and personality traits. Besides, the limitations to the study are also

addressed as well as gaps for future research studies into the field of ethical leadership and

personality traits.

5.1 Summary of Findings

The study sought to contribute to the field of ethical leadership by exploring the influence of the

big five personality traits, using a sample from some selected schools in the Ga Central

Municipal Educational Directorate. The analysis revealed that after controlling for the entire sub

constructs of the personality traits, it was only conscientiousness that appeared to be significant

to ethical leadership, and that is, conscientiousness had a positive effect on ethical leadership.

The second research objective sought to ask the personality trait variable with the most variance

on ethical leadership. From the study, it was also seen that conscientiousness was the trait with

the largest variance 44% on ethical leadership with (R-squared= .437).

Moreover, the research concluded that there was no significant difference in ethical leadership

behaviors of headteachers at Ga Central Municipal Educational Directorate due to gender.

98
5.2 Conclusion

The aim of the study was to find the influence of personality traits (big five) on ethical

leadership. It has been explained that the personal characteristics (personality traits) of a person

relates to his or her ethical leadership. For instance the headteachers competence, creativity,

curiosity, tolerance, emotional stability and self-disciplined with subordinates (teachers) will

positively increase the productivity of the teachers. Based on the findings, the study concluded

that headteachers in Ga Central Municipal Educational Directorate possess more neuroticism and

conscientiousness traits compared to the other traits. Based on this finding, the researcher is of

the view that before Ghana Education Service (GES) appoints any Headteacher to manage a

school, they should be able to assess their personality traits on the field of work before allowing

them to apply for headship positions.

5.3 Theoretical Contributions

The current study adds to the contribution to the field of ethical leadership and personality traits

in a variety of ways. Firstly, the study takes a look at the ongoing debate concerning traits such

as extraversion and openness to experience and how they relate with ethical leadership. Brown et

al. (2005) have expressed that these two traits do not relate with the ethical leadership construct

and hence linking them to ethical leadership is not needful. This was supported in a study by

Walumbwa and Schaubroeck (2009), and Kalshoven (2012) who also affirmed the above

assertion. The current study however argued that, trait such as extraversion relates to ethical

leadership and hence headteachers who are sociable, adventurous, outgoing, energetic will

portray a high ethical leadership behavior.

99
5.4 Recommendations

Given the benefit of personality traits in relation to ethical leadership behavior of headteachers,

The Ghana Education Service (GES) should seek to select or train ethical leaders. For example,

the GES can use a selection tools that will help to tap the integrity and moral standards of

teachers before they even attain the rank to be appointed as a headteacher. The tool that will be

used to assess the teacher should contain integrity test, structured interviews and assessment

center exercise that will focus on relevant ethical dilemma (Mayer, Kuenzi & Greenbaum, 2011).

Apart from conducting an assessment for the teachers who have attained the rank to be appointed

as headteacher, the Ghana Education Service can also provide an in-service training for already

appointed headteachers. The training program should be able to communicate the importance of

ethics and also rewarding headteachers who have behaved ethically in their various

municipalities. Through the selection and training of headteachers, it will help to eliminate any

unethical behaviors which have been engulfing the education service recently.

5.5 Limitations of the Study

One of the limitations of the study was the use of cross sectional survey method to collect data.

This method couldnt allow the researcher to make a casual conclusion on the study, that is

couldnt use a long duration to study the case.

Although the results of the study could be adequately generalized, the sample size (180) as

compared to others studies is relatively low (Kalshoven, 2012; Walumbwa & Schaubroeck,

2009). This could have an effect on the statistical power of some of the personality traits

variables on ethical leadership behavior.

100
Time and financial constrains were also problems encountered since the researcher has to meet

the respondents at their convenient time and place. Based on this, the researcher concentrated on

only participants within the Ga Central Municipal Educational Directorate.

5.6 Future Studies

Based on the identified limitations to the study, some future studies could look at some other

perspectives. For instance, a longitudinal or experimental study of personality traits and ethical

leadership could be examined to gain a better understanding of the relationship between the two

variables.

Furthermore, Brown et al. (2005) opined in a theoretical review that factors such as the moral

intensity of issues as well as the ethical context of the organization could influence ethical

leadership behavior, hence future studies could look at how these factors influence personality

traits in predicting ethical behavior of leaders.

Again most of the studies about personality traits and ethical leadership have conducted in a lot

of organizations whiles little has been done in the educational sector especially in Ghana. The

researcher therefore urges future researchers to study more into this area using a different

measuring scale.

101
 5.7 Figure 1: Post Study Conceptual Framework.

Conscientiousness

(H 1b & 2: 0.5: +VE)

Ethical Leadership Ethical
Traits
Leadership
Extraversion

(H 1c :0.5: +VE)

Source: Researchers Results from Empirical Analysis Findings, 2017

102
 REFERENCES

Abdolzahra, N., Elham, B., Hosseini, P., & Morteza, C. (2014). A study on the personality

aspects of adaptive performance among governmental hospitals nurses: A conceptual

model. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 159, 359 364.

Abdullah, N.A.B. (2013). Study on the relationship between leaders personality and

employees work satisfaction (Unpublished masters thesis). University of Malaysia.

Achua, C. F. & Lussier, R.N. (2010). Effective leadership (4thed.). New York: South

Western Publication.

Ahmad, J., Ather, M. R., & Hussain, M. (2014). Impact of big five personality traits on job

performance (organizational commitment as a mediator). Management, Knowledge

and Learning, Portoroz, Slovenia, 25-27.

Akker, L. v., Heres, L., Lasthuizen, K., & Six, F. (2009). Ethical leadership and Trust: Its all

About meeting expectations. International Journal of leadership stdies, V(2), 102-123.

Akpablie, K. N. (2016, May 29). Headmaster arrested in GHc 300,000 recruitment scam.

Retrieved from http://citifmonline.com/2016/05/29/headmaster-arrested-in-

ghc300000-recruitment-scam/

Akuffo P. (2016, April 8). WASSCE Troubles: Three held in Kumasi over exams practice and

leakage of question. Retrieved from http://www.myjoyonline.com/news/2016/april-

8th/wassce-troubles-three-held-in-kumasi-over-exams-malpractice-and-leakage-of-

questions.php

Alabi, G. (2009). General guidelines for writing a research report. Published by Institute of

Professional Studies IPS, Legon. Accra: Ghana.

103
Aliaga, M., & Gunderson, B. (2002). Interactive statistics. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Anderson, C, Spataro, S. E., & Flynn, F. J. (2008). Personality and organizational culture

as determinants of influence. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 702-710.

Allport, & Odbert. (1936). Trait names: a psycho-lexical study. Psychological, 47(211).

Allport, G. (1937). Personality: A psychological interpretation. New York: Holt Press.

Allport, G., & Odbert, H. (1936). Trait names: a psycho-lexical study. Psychological

Monographs, 47(211).

Ansah, M. (2016, January 13). Mfantsipim headmaster ordered to step aside over illigal fees.

Retrieved from http://citifmonline.com/2016/01/13/mfantsipim- headmaster-ordered-

to-step-aside-over-illegal-fees/

Antonio, R. (2012, April 14). Headmaster Rapes Pupil. Retrieved from

https://www.modernghana.com/news/388978/1/headmaster-rapes-pupil.html

Appiah, E. (2015, April 30). Nifa SHS Head hauled to court for sexual assault against

Assistant Headmistress. Retrieved from

http://www.myjoyonline.com/news/2015/april-30th/nifa-shs-head-hauled-to-court-

for-sexualt-assault-against-assistant-headmistress.php

Aristotle (D. Ross Trans). (1988). The nicomachean ethics. Oxford, U.K: Oxford

University Press.

Aronson, E. (2001). Integrating leadership styles and ethical perspectives. Canadian

Journal of Administrative Sciences, 18(4), 244-257.

Arthur, C. (2012). A functional approach to educational research methods and statistics.

Published by Multimedia Printing Press: Kumasi.

104
Ashkanasy, N. M., Windsor, C. A., & Trevio, L. K. (2006). Bad apples in bad barrels revisited:

Personal factors and organizational rewards as determinants of managerial ethical

decision-making. Business Ethics Quarterly, 16, 449474.

Avey, J. B., Palanski, M. E., & Walumbwa, F. O. (2011). When leadership goes unnoticed

Avolio, B. J., Walumbwa, F. O., & Weber, T. J. (2009). Leadership: Current theories, research,

and future directions. Annual Review of Psychology, 60, 421449.

The moderating role of follower self - esteem on the relationship between ethical

leadership and follower behavior. Journal of Business Ethics, 98, 573 - 582

Babbie, E. (1990). Survey research methods, (2nd ed.). California: Wades Worth Publishing

Company.

Baer, J. (2014). Creativity and Divergent Thinking: A Task-Specific Approach. New York,

NY: Psychology Press.

Balasubramaniann, P., & Krishnan, V.R. (2012). Impact of gender and transformational

leadership onethical behaviors. Great Lakes Herald 6(1), 48-58

Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood CliVs,: NJ: PrenticeHall.

Barrick, M.R. & Mount, M.K. (1991). The big five personality dimensions and job

performance: A meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, 44, 1-26.

Bartko, J. J. (1976). On various intra-class correlation reliability coefficients. Psychological

Bulletin, 83, 762765.

Becker, G. (1996). The impact of HRM on organizational perform and prospect. Academy of

Management Journal, 39, 779-801

Beer, A., & Brooks, C. (2011). Information quality in personality judgment: The value of

personal disclosure. Journal of Research in Personality,45 (2), 175- 185.

105
Bello. (2012). Impact of Ethical Leadership on Employee Job Performance. International

Journal of Business and Social Science, 3, 229-236.

Bernard, H.R. (2002). Research Methods in Anthropology: Qualitative and quantitative

methods. (3rd edition). AltaMira Press ,Walnut Creek, California

Bliese, P. D. (1998). Group size, ICC values, and group-level correlations: A simulation.

Organizational Research Methods, 1, 355373

Bliese, P. D. (2000). Within-group agreement, non-independence, and reliability: Implications

for data aggregation and analysis. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

Bogdan, R. & Biklen, S. K. (2007). Qualitative Research for Education: An Introduction

to Theories and Methods (5th ed.). New York: Pearson Education.

Bono, J. E., & Judge, T. A. (2004). Personality and Transformational and Transactional

Leadership:. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(5), 901910.

Bormann, W.C (2013). Understanding Ethical Leadership:An Integrative Model of its

Antecedents, Correlates,Contingencies, and Outcomes. Dortmund.

Brndstrm, S., Richter, J., & Nylander, P. (2003). Further development of the Temperament.

Psychological Reports, 93, 995-1002.

Brissette, I., & Cohen, S. (2002). The contribution of individual differences in hostility to the

associations between daily interpersonal conflict affect, and sleep. Personality & Social

Psychology Bulletin, 28, 12651274.

Brown, M. E., & Trevio, L. K. (2006). Ethical leadership: A review and future directions. The

Leadership Quarterly, 17, 595616.

106
Brown, M. E., Trevio, L. K., & Harrison, D. (2005). Ethical leadership: A social learning

perspective for construct development and testing. In Organizational Behavior and

Human (Vol. 97, pp. 117-134).

Burns, J.M. (1978). Leadership. New York, NY: Harper & Row.

Butterfield, K. D., Trevio, L. K., & Weaver, G. R. (2000). Moral awareness in business

organizations: Influences of issue-related and social context factors. Human Relations,

53, 9811018.

Carroll, J. (2006). Americans prefer male boss to a female boss. Retrieved from

http://brain.gallup.com

Castro, S. L. (2002). Data analytic methods for the analysis of multilevel questions: A

comparison of intra-class correlation coefficients, rwg, hierarchical linear modeling,

within-and-between analysis, and random group resampling. The Leadership Quarterly,

13, 6993

Cattell, R. B. (1990). Advances in Cattellian personality theory. In L. A. Pervin (Ed.),

Handbook of personality: Theory and research (pp. 101-110). New York: Guildford.

Cattell, R. B., Eber, H. W., & Tatsuoka, M. M. (1970). Handbook for the sixteen

personality factor questionnaire (16PF). Savoy, IL: The Institute for Personality &

Ability Testing.

Cattell, R.B. (1950). An introduction to personality study. London: Hutchinson.

Cattell, R., Eber, H., & Tatsuoka, M. (1970). Handbook for the 16 Personality Factor. Chicago,

II: IPAT.

Chin, W. W. (1998). Issues and opinion on Structural Equation Modelling. MIS Quarterly, 22,

viixvi.

107
Ciulla, J. (2003). The ethics of leadership. Belmont: CA Wadsworth-Thompson

Ciulla, J.B. (2003). The ethics of leadership. Belmont: CA Wadsworth/ Thompson

Ciulla, J. B. (1998). Ethics, the heart of leadership. Westport: CT: Greenwood.

Cloninger, S. (2000). Theories of personality: understanding persons. (3rd edition) Upper Saddle

River: HJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Cohen, J.A. (1960). A coefficient of agreements for nominal scales. Education and

Psychological Measurement, 20, 37-46.

Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2007). Research methods in education. London:

Routledge

Collis, J. & Hussey, R. (2009). Business Research: A practical guide for undergraduate and

postgraduate students, 3rd edition, New York, Palgrave Macmillan.

Colvin, G. (2003). Corporate crooks are not all created equal. Fortune, October, 27, 64.

Correia de Lacerda, T. (2010). Transformational Leadership: Toward a Strategy of

Corporate Social Responsibility. LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing.

Conway, & Gawronski. (2013). Deontological and Utilitarian Inclinations in Moral Decision

Making:A Process Dissociation Approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,

104(2), 216-235.

Costa, P., & McCrae, R. (1992). NEO PI-R professional manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological

Assessment Resources, Inc.

Creswell, J. W. (2003). Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Method Approaches. London: Sage

Publication.

Day, D. V., & Kilduff, M. (2003). Self-monitoring and work relationships: Individual differences

in social networks. In (. I. M. R. Barrick & A.M. Ryan. San Francisco, CA: JosseyBass.

108
Day, D. V., Schleicher, D. J., Unckless, A. L., & Hiller, N. J. (2002). Self-monitoring personality

at work: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 390401.

De Vaus, D. (2002). Analyzing social science data: 50 key problems in data analysis.

London: Sage Publications.

Dickson, M., Smith, M. W., Grojean, M. C. & Ehrhart, M. W. (2001). An Organizational

Climate Regarding Ethics: The Outcome of Leader Values and the Practices that Reflect

Them. Leadership Quarterly 12, 197214.

Digman, J. M. (1990). Personality Structure: The Emer-gence of the Five-Factor Model. Annual

Review of Psychology, 41, 417440.

Digman, J. M., & Shmelyov, A. G. (1996). The structure of temperament and personality in

Russian children. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 341351.

Donaldson, T. (1996). Values in Tension: Ethics Away from Home. Harvard Business

Review. 48-62.

Dukerich, J. N. (1990). Moral reasoning ingroups: Leadersmake a difference. Human Relations,

43, 473493.

Eagly, A., Makhijani, M., & Klonsky, B. (1992). Gender and the evaluation of leaders: A meta-

analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 111, 322. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.111.1.3

Egyir, I. K. (2015). The Antecedents of Student Satisfaction and Loyalty in Higher Education

Instititons: An empirical Study of Students of the University of Ghana. Aalesund:

Aalesund University College.

Elenkov, D. S., & Manev, I. M. (2005). Top Management Leadership and Influence on

Innovation : The Role of Sociocultural Context. Journal of Management, 381-402.

109
Entezari, A., Zabihi, M. R., & Shekari, G. A. (2014). The Relationship between employee

personality traits and their silence behavior considering the moderating role of

management's leadership style. MAGNT Research Report, 2(6), 518-534.

Eswaram, S., Islam, A., & Yusuf, D.H.M. (2011). A Study of the relationship between the Big

Five Personality Dimensions and Job Involvement in a Foreign Based Financial

Institution in Penang. International Business Research Journal. Vol. 4 (4)

Feingold, A. (1994). Gender differences in personality: A meta-analysis. Psychological

Bulletin, 116, 429-456.

Field,A. (2005). Discovering Statistics using SPSS. London: Sage.

Field, A.P. (2009). Discovering statistics using SPSS: and sex and drugsand rock n roll (3rd

Edition). London: Sage.

Fiedler, F. E. (1996). Research on Leadership Selection and Training. Administrative Science

Quarterly, 41: 24150.

Field, A. (2009). Discovering Statistics Using SPSS. London: SAGE Publications.

Flannery, B. L., & May, D. R. (2000). Environmental ethical decision-making in the U.S. metal-

finishing industry. Academy of Management Journal, 43, 642662.

Foray, J.J (2012, June 25). Conflicts in basic schools in Ghana. Fostering peaceful

learning environment. Retrieved from http://africanreality.over-blog.net/article-

conflicts-in-basic-schools-in-ghana-fostering-peaceful-learning-environment-

107428350.html

Fretwell, C. E., Lewis, C. C., & Hannay, M. (2013). Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, A/B

Personality Types, and Locus of Control: Where Do They Intersect? American Journal of

Management, 57-66.

110
Frey, B. F. (2000). The impact of moral intensity on decision making in a business context.

Journal of Business Ethics, 26, 181195.

G.E.S. (2008). Teachers Code of Conduct: Rules for Professional Teachers in Ghana.

Retrieved from

http://teachercodes.iiep.unesco.org/teachercodes/codes/Africa/Ghana.pdf

Ghana Web. (2013). 40% of parents pay bribes for education in Ghana-GII. Retrieved

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/40-percent-of- parents-pay-

bribes-for-education-in-Ghana-GII-287577

Gilligan, C. (1982). In a Different Voice. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. P 83

Hair, J.F., Anderson, R.E., Tatham, R.L., & Black, W.C. (1998). Multivariate data

analysis, 5th ed., Prentice-Hall Inc., Upper Saddle River.

Goldberg, L. (1990). An alternative "description of personality": The big-five factor structure.

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 1216-1229.

Hair, F., Anderson, R. E., Tatham, R. L., & Black, W. (1995). Multivariate Data Analysis and

Readings. NEW YORK: Macmillan.

Hair, J. F., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2010). PLS-SEM: Indeed a silver bullet. The Journal

of Marketing Theory, 19(2), 139-152.

Hayes, A. F. (2008). Beyond Baron and Kenny: Statistical mediation analysis in the new

millenium. Communication Monographs, 76, 408420.

Hegarty, W. H., & Sims Jr., H. P. (1978). Some Determinants of Unethical Decision Behavior:

An Experiment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 63(4), 451547.

111
Heifetz, R. (1994). Leadership without easy answers. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Henderson, S. J. (2004). Product inventors and creativity: The finer dimensions of

enjoyment. Creativity Research Journal, 16, 293-312.

Hofstede, G. (2001). Cultures Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions,

and Organizations across Nations.( 2nd Ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Hogan, R., & Shelton, D. (2006). Associoanalytic perspective on job performance. Human

Performance, 11(2/3), 129-144.

Hogan, R., Curphy, G. J., & Hogan, J. (1994). What we know about leaderhip: Effectiveness

and personality. American Psychologit, 49, 493-504.

Hossiep, R., & Krger, C. (2012). Das Bochumer Inventar zur berufsbezogenen

Persnlichkeitsbeschreibung - 6 Faktoren (BIP-6F) [Business focused inventory of

personality - 6 factors]. Gttingen: Hogrefe.

Hu, L.T., & Bentler, P.M. (1999). "Cut off Criteria for Fit Indexes in Covariance Structure

Analysis: Conventional Criteria Versus New Alternatives," Structural Equation

Modeling, 6 (1), 1-55.

Hunsley, J., Lee, C. M., & Wood, J. M. (2003). Controversial and questionable assessment

techniques. In S. O. Lilienfeld, S. J. Lynn, & J. M. Lohr (Eds.), Science and

pseudoscience in clinical psychology (pp. 3976). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

James, L. R. (1982). Aggregation bias in estimate of perceptual agreement. Journal of

Applied Psychology, 67, 219229.

Jensen-Campbell, L. A., & Graziano, W. G. (2001). Agreeableness as a moderator of

interpersonal conflict. Journal of Personality, 69, 323361

112
Jensen-Campbell, L. A., & Graziano, W. G. (2001). Agreeableness as a Moderator of

Interpersonal Conflict. Journal of Personality, 69, 323362.

Jones, T. M. (1991). Ethical decision making by individuals in organizations: An issue

contingent model. Academy of Management Review, 16, 366395.

John, O. P., & Srivastava, S. (1999). The big five trait taxonomy: history, measurement, and

theoretical perspectives. In L. A. Pervin, & O. P. John (Eds.), Handbook of

personality: theory and research (2nd ed.) (pp. 102138). New York: Guilford Press.

John, O. P., Donahue, E. M., & Kentle, R. L. (1991). The Big Five Inventor Versions 4a and

54.Berkeley: University of California, Berkeley, Institute of Personality and Social

Research.

John, O. P., Naumann, L. P., & Soto, C. J. (2008). Paradigm shift to the integrative Big- Five

trait taxonomy: History, measurement, and conceptual issues. In O. P. John, R. W.

Robins, & L. A. Pervin (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (3rd ed.,

pp. 114158). New York, NY: Guilford Press

Judge, T., Bono, J., Ilies, R., & Gerhardt, M. (2002). Personality and leadership: A qualitative

and quantitative review. Journal of Applied Psychology, 765780.

Kalshoven, K., Den Hartog, D.N., & De Hoogh, A.H.B. (2011). Ethical Leader Behavior and Big Five Factors
of Personality. Journal of Business Ethics., 100, 349-366.

Kalshoven, K. (2010). Ethical leadership: through the eyes of employees. FEB: Amsterdam

Business School Research Institute (ABS-RI).

Kidder, R. (1995). How good people make tough choices. New York: William Morrow and

Company, Inc.

Kidder, R. M. (1995). How good people make tough choices. New York: Merrow.

113
Klein, K. J., & Kozlowski, S. W. (2000). From micro to meso: critical steps in

conceptualizing and conducting multilevel research. Organizational Research

Methods. 3, 211236.

Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2007). The leadership challenge, 4th ed. San Francisco, CA:

Jossey-Bass.

Kohlberg, L. (1969). State and sequence: The cognitive-development approach to socialization.

In In D. Goslin (Ed.),Handbook of socialization theory and research (p. 347480).

Chicago: RandMcNally.

Kusi, H. (2012). Doing qualitative research: A guide for researchers Published by

Emmpong press: Accra New-Town.

Lewis, J.L. & Sheppard, S.R.J. (2006). Culture and communication: can landscape

visualization improve forest management consultation with indigenous communities?

Landscape and Urban Planning. 77:291313.

Likert, R. (1961). New patterns of management. New York: McGraw-Hill

Lim, B. C., & Ployhart, R. E. (2004). Transformational leadership: Relations to the five-f actor

model and team performance in typical and maximum contexts. Journal of Applied Psychology,

89:610-621.

Luthans, F. &. (2003). Authentic leadership: A positive development approach. In K. S.

Cameron, J. E. Dutton, & R.E. Quinn (Eds.),: Positive Organizational Scholarship.San

Francisco: BerrettKoehler.

Marcus, B., Hoft, H., & Riediger, M. (2006). Integrity test and five- factor model of

personality: a review and empirical test of two alternative positions. International

Journal of Selection and Assessment. 14(2), 113-130.

114
Marion, R. (2005). Leadership in education: Organizational theory for the practitioner. Long

Grove, IL: Waveland Press, Inc.

May, D. R., & Pauli, K. P. (2002). The role of moral intensity in ethical decision making: A

review and investigation or moral recognition, evaluation. Business and Society, 41,

84117.

Mayer, Kuenzi, Greenbaum, Bardes, & Salvador. (2009). How low does ethical leadership flow?

Test of a trickle-down model. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes.

1-13.

Mayer, D.M, Kuenzi, M., & Greenbaum, R.L. (2011). Examining the Link Between Ethical

Leadership and Employee Misconduct: The Mediating Role of Ethical Climate.

Journal of Business Ethics. 95:716. DOI 10.1007/s10551-011-0794-0

McCrae, R. R. (1987). Creativity, divergent thinking, and openness to experience.

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 1258-1265.

McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T. Jr. (1996). Toward a new generation of personality theories:

theoretical contexts for the five-factor model. In J. S. Wiggins (Ed.), The five factor

model of personality (pp. 5187). New York: The Guilford Press.

McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T. Jr., (1987). Validation of the five-factor model of personality

across instruments and observers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 52.1:

8190.

McCrae, R. R., & John, O. (1992). An introduction to the five-factor model and its

applications. Journal of Personality, 60(2), 174-214.

115
McCrae, R.R., & Costa, P.T. Jr. (1987). Validation of the Five-Factor Model of personality

across instruments and observers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 52, 17-

40.

McDiarmid, J. B. (1976), Theophrastus in Dictionary of Scientific Biography edited by

Charles Coulston Gillispie (New York), vol 13, pp. 328-334.

McDonell, L., & Macnamara, D. (2010). Top Governance Questions. Leadership Acumen Issue

28. Retrieved from

http://www.banffexeclead.com/AcumenPDF/Governance%20Articles/Leaders

hip%20Acumen%2028%20V10%20Gov%20Qs.pdf

McGraw, K. O., & Wong, S. P. (1996). Forming inferences about some intra-class

correlation coefficients. Psychological Methods. 1, 3046.

McLean, B & Elkin, P. (2004).The smartest guys in the room. New York. Fortune.

McLeod, S.A. (2014). Type A Personality. Online article from simplypsychology.org

McMillan, J. H., & Schumacher, S. (2009). Research in Education- Evidence Based Inquiry

(7thed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Publication.

Moore, D., & McCabe, G. P. (2006). Introduction to the practice of statistics, (5th Ed.). New

York: W. H. Freeman and Company.

Mouton, J. 1996. Understanding social research. Pretoria: van Schaik

Miller, D., & Toulouse, J. M. ( 1986). Strategy, structure, CEO personality and performance in

small firms. American Journal of Small Business, 4762.

Monahan, K. (2012). A Review of Literature Concerning Ethical Leadership. Emerging

Leadership Journals, 5(1), 56-66.

116
Mount, M. K., & Barrick, M. R. (1995). The Big Five Personality Dimensions: Implications for

Research and Practice in Human Resources Management. G. R Ferris (ed.): Research in

Personnel and Human Resources Management(JAI Press, Inc).

Mulford, B. (2003). School Leaders: Changing roles and impact on teacher and school

effectiveness. Retrieved from https://www.oecd.org/edu/school/2635399.pdf

Mumford, M.D., Zaccaro, S.J., Harding, F.D., Jacobs, T.O., & Fleishman, E.A. (2000).

Leadership Skills for Changing Word: Solving complex social problems. Leadership

Quarterly, 11(1), 11-35.

Myers, B. I. (1998). Introduction to Type. (6th ed.). Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists

Press.

Myers, B.I., Mary, H. & McCaulley, M. H. (1985). Manual: A guide to the development and

use of the Myers-Briggs type indicator. Published by Consulting Psychologists Press.

USA: California.

Myers, I. B., McCaulley, M. H., Quenk, N. L., & Hammer, A. L. (2003). MBTI manual: A

guide to the development and use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (3rd ed.). Palo

Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.

Naamia, A., Behzadia, E., Parisaa, H., & Charkhabib, M. (2014). A Study on the personality

aspects of adaptive performance among governmental hospitals nurses: A conceptual

model. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 159, 359 364.

Naamia, A., Behzadia, E., Parisaa, H., & Charkhabib, M. (2014). A Study on the personality

aspects of adaptive performance among governmental hospitals nurses: A conceptual

model. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 159, 359 364.

117
Neutens, J., & Robinson, L. (2010). Research Techniques for the Health Sciences. New York:

Pearson Education, Inc.

Northouse, G.P. (2010). Leadership: Theory and Practice, (5thed.). California: Sage

Publication.

Northouse, G. (2013). Leadership: theory and Practise (Sixth Edition ed.). London, United

States of America: Sage Publication.

Nunnally, J.C., & Bernstein, I.H. (1994). Psychometric theory (3rd ed.). New York:

McGraw-Hill.

Nunnally, J. C. (1978). Psychometric Theory. New York: McGraw-Hill.

OConnor, B.P. (2002). A quantitative review of the comprehensiveness of the five-Factor

model in relation to popular personality inventories, Assessment, Vol. 35, pp. 109-

25.

OECD. (2009). Creating Effective Teaching and Learning Environment: First Results from

TALIS.

Olver, J., & Mooradian, T.A. (2003). Personality traits and personal values: A conceptual

and empirical integration. 35(1):109-125. DOI: 10.1016/S0191- 8869(02)00145-9

Ones, D., Viswesvaran, & Dilchert, S. (2005). "Personality at Work: Raising Awareness and

Correcting Misconceptions". Human Performance, 18, 389-404.

Pallant, J. (2013). SPSS survival manual. A step by step guide to data analysis using IBM SPSS

(5th edition). McGraw Hill, London.

Pearson, G.W. (1998). Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning. (3rd ed.)

Piccolo, Greenbaum, & Eissa. (2012). Ethical leadership and core job characteristics: Designing

Jobs for employee well being.

118
Podsakoff, P.M., MacKenzie, S.B., Lee J-Y., & Podsakoff, N.P. (2003). Common method

biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended

remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 879-903.

Polit, D. F., & Hungler, B. P. (1993), Nursing research: Principles and methods, (3rd

edition). Philadelphia: Lippincott.

Pont, B., Nusch, D., & Moorman, H. (2008). Improving School Leadership: Policy and Practice,

OECD, Paris. Vol. 1

Reave, L. (2005). Spiritual values and practices related to leadership effectiveness. The

Leadership Quarterly, 16, 655687.

Rentfrow, P. J., & Gosling, S. D. (2003). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84,

12361256.

Rest, J., Narvaez, D., Bebeau, M. J., & Thoma, S. J. (1999). Postconventional moral thinking: A

neo-Kohlbergian Approach. Mahway, NJ: Erlbaum.

Revell, J. (2003). The Fires That Wont Go Out. The Big Four accounting firms have been

fighting off one public-relations crisis after another. There's a good reason: They keep

starting them. Retrieved from

http://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2003/10/13/350

912/index.htm

Reyes, R. R. (2013). The Impact of Residual Symptoms on the Recurrence of Depression:A

Population-based Study. UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY.

Roccas, S., Sagiv, L., Schwartz, S. H., & Knafo, A. (2002). The Big Five personality factors

and personal values. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 789-801

119
Rotter, J.B. (1990). Internal Versus External Control of Reinforcement: A Case History of a

Variable, American Psychologist, Vol.45, No.4., pp. 490-493

Rowold, J., Borgmann, L., & Heinitz, K. (2009). Ethische Fu hrungGu tekriterien einer

deutschen Adaptation der Ethical Leadership Scale (ELS-D) von Brown et al. (2005).

Zeitschrift fur Arbeits- und Organisations psychologie, 53(2), 5769.

Rusten, J. (1993). Theophrastus: Characters. Cambridge, MA: Loeb Classical Library, Havard

University Press.

Sackett, P.R., & Wanek, J.E. (1996). New developments in the use of measures of

honesty, integrity, conscientiousness, dependability, trustworthiness and reliability for

personnel selection. Personnel Psychology, 49(4), 787-830.

Sadanandan, G. (2013). Western Political Thought. Retrieved from

http://www.universityofcalicut.info/SDE/Western 20Political 20Thought 20dt.

2023.12.2014.

Sekaran, U. (2003). Research Methods for Business: A Skills Building Approach (3rd ed.).

New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Shrout, P. E., & Fleiss, J. L. (1979). Intra-class correlations: uses in assessing rater

reliability. Psychological Bulletin. 86, 420428.

Sinatra, G.M., Brem, S.K., & Evans, E.M. (2008). Changing Minds? Implications of

Conceptual Change for Teaching and Learning about Biological Evolution. Issue 2, pp

189-195. doi:10.1007/s12052-008-0037-8

Singhapakdi, A., Vitell, S. J., & Kraft, K. L. (1996). Moral intensity and ethical decision-making

of marketing professionals. Journal of Business Research, 36, 245255.

120
Snyder, M. (1974). The self-monitoring of expressive behavior. Journal of Personality and

Social Psychology, 30, 526537.

Strelau, J. (1998). Temperament: A PsychologicalPerspective. Hingham. MA, USA: Kluwer

Academic Publishers.

Tabachnick, B., & Fidell, S. (2007). Using multivariate statistics (5th Edition ed.). Boston: MA:

Pearson Education, Inc.

Tenbrunsel, A. E., Smith-Crowe, K., & Umphress, E. (2003). Building houses on rocks: The role

of the ethical infrastructure in organizations. Social Justice Research, 16, 285307.

Theophrastus (1916). Enquiry into Plants. Translated by A.F. Hort. Harvard University Press,

Cambridge, MA

Timothy A. Judge, A.T., Bono, E. J., Ilies, R., & Gerhardt, W. M (2002). Personality and

Leadership: A Qualitative and Quantitative Review. Journal of Applied Psychology,

87 (4), 765780.

Tobin, R. M., Graziano, W. G., Vanman, E. J., & Tassinary, L. G. (2000). Personality,

emotional experience, and efforts to control emotions. Journal of Personality and Social

Psychology, 79, 656669.

Trevino, L. K. (1986). Ethical decision making in organizations: A person-situation

interactionist model. Academy of Management Review, 11(3), 601-617

Trevio, L. K. (1990). A cultural perspective on changing organizational ethics. In R.

Woodman & Passmore (Eds.), Research in organizational change and development

(pp. 195230). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press

Trevio, L. K., & Nelson, K. A. (2007). Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do

it right (4th Ed.). New York: Wiley.

121
Trevio, L. K., & Youngblood, S. A. (1990). Bad apples in bad barrels: A causal analysis of

ethical decision-making behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 75, 378385.

Trevio, L. K., Butterfield, & K D Mcabe, D. M. (1998). The ethical context in organizations:

Influences on employee attitudes and behaviors. Business Ethics Quarterly, 8, 447476.

Trevio, L. K., Hartman, L. P., & Brown, M. (2000). Moral person and moral manager: How

executives develop a reputation for ethical leadership. California Management Review,

42, 128142.

Tuner, N., Barling, J., Epitropaki, O., Butcher, V., Milner, C. (2002). Transformational

Leadership and Moral Reasoning. Journal of Applied Psychology87304311.

Tustin, D. H., Ligthelm, A. A., Martins, J.H. & Van Wyk, J. (2005). Marketing research in

practice. Pretoria: University of South Africa Press. P. 749.

Tupes, E., & Christal, R. (1961). Recurrent personality factors based on trait ratings. Lackland

Air Force Base, TX: U.S. Air Force.

Twenge, J. M., Baumeister, R. F., Tice, D. M., & Stucke, T. S. (2001). If you cant join them,

beat them: Effects of social exclusion on aggressive behavior. Journal of Personality

and Social Psychology, 81, 10581069.

Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, S. M. (2008, February). Generational differences in psychological

traits and their impact on the workplace. Emeralf Journal of Managerial Psychology,

23(8), 862-877.

Victor, B., & Cullen, J. B. (1988). The organizational bases of ethical work climates.

Administrative Science Quarterly, 101125.

Vogel, L.R. (2012). Values and Ethics in Educational Administration. Centre for the study

of leadership and ethics review. Vol (10) 2. ISSN 1703-5759

122
Walumbwa, F. O., & Schaubroeck, J. (2009). Leader Personality Traits and Employee Voice

Behavior: Mediating Roles of Ethical Leadership and Work group Psychological safety.

Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol 94, No. 5, 1275-1286.

Walumbwa, F. O., Avolio, B. J., Gardner, W. L., Wernsing, T. S., & Peterson, S. J. (2008).

Authentic leadership: Development and validation of a theory-based. Journal of

Management, 34(1), 89126.

Walumbwa, F.O., Mayer, D.M., Wang, P., Wang, H., Workman, C. and Christensen, A.L.

(2011), Linking ethical leadership to employee performance: the roles of LMX, self

efficacy, and organizational identification, Organizational Behavior and Human

Decision Processes, Vol. 115, pp. 20413.

Warner, R. M. ( 2008). Applied statistics: From bivariate through multivariate techniques.

Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, Inc.

Weaver, G. R., Trevio, L. K., & Agle, B. (2005). Somebody I look up to: Ethical role models

in organizations. Organizational Dynamics, 313330.

Webb, R.L. (2009). The Motivational Tool Chest. Goose Creek South: Carolina 29445 USA.

Williams, R. (2015). Missing Data Part II: Multiple Imputation. Retrieved from

http://www3.nd.edu/rwilliam/

Witt, L. A., Burke, L. A., Barrick, M. R., & Mount, M. K. (2002). The interactive effects of

conscientiousness and agreeableness on job performance. Journal of Applied

Psychology, 87, 164169.

Wood, J.M. (2007). Understanding and Computing Cohens Kappa: A tutorial.

WebpsychEmpiricist. Retrieved from www.wpe.info/papers_table.html.

123
Yukl, G. (2006). Leadership in organizations, 6th edition. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall

Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Yukl, G. (2010). Leadership in Organizations (7thed.). Pearson Prentice Hall Publication:

New Jersey.

Zafar, A. (2013). Linking Ethical Leadership and Employee In-role performance: Exploring the

mediating role of Psychological capital anf Follower- leader relational capital. St

Cathrines, Ontario: Goodman School of Business, Brock University.

Zubay, B., & Soltis, J. F. (2005). Creating the ethical school. A book of case studies. New

York, NY Teachers College Press.

124
 APPENDIX A

SUBORDINATES VERSION

Dear Participant(s),

This voluntary survey is a part of My MPHIL thesis at the School of Graduate Studies (SOGS),

UPSA. The purpose of this survey is to determine the influence of personality traits and ethical

leadership. You will be asked to complete a survey about the ethical leadership behaviour of

your immediate supervisor along with your demographic information. Your responses are very

important to accomplish this project. Please complete in an honest and open manner. All

information you provide will be strictly held confidential. It will take approximately 10 minutes

for you to complete this survey. If you have any questions about this survey, please do not

hesitate to contact me at 0242211117 / 0200981312 or via email

aduyeboah83@gmail.com.Thank you for your time and participation.

Sincerely,

Adu-Yeboah Emmanuel

School of Graduates Studies

Faculty of Management

UPSA

125
These are few questions to describe you. Kindly tick the appropriate which best describes you.

Please do not skip any questions because they will help us make useful comparisons in the study.

Please complete in an honest and open manner. All information you provide will be strictly held

confidential and will be used for academic purposes only.

Personal Data

1) Gender
a) Female
b) Male

2) Age (in years)

a) 22-30
b) 31-39
c) 40 and above

3) Level of Education
a) Diploma

b) Degree

c) Second Degree

4) Tenure at post

a) 1-5

b) 6-10

c) Above 10 years

126
The following statements are about how you see your headmaster/mistress here in this school.

Please indicate the degree of your agreement or disagreement with each statement by ticking

the number of your choice to the right of the statement, based on the scale given below. There is

no right or wrong answers. For each of the 10 questions, the responses are:

(Strongly Disagree = 1, Disagree = 2, Neutral = 3, Agree = 4, Strongly Agree = 5)

1 2 3 4 5
SD D N A SA
5. My leader listens to what employees have to say
6. My leader disciplines employees who violate ethical
standards.
7. My leader conducts his/her personal life in an ethical
manner.
8. My leader has the best interest of employees in mind
9. My leader makes fair and balanced decisions.
10. My leader can be trusted.
11. My leader discusses both business values and ethics with
employees
12. My leader sets an example of how to do things the right
way in terms of ethics.
13. My leader defines success not just by results but by how
it is obtained.
14. When making decisions my supervisor asks, what is the
right thing to do

127
 SUPERVISORS VERSION

Dear Headmaster/ Headmistress(s),

This voluntary survey is a part of my MPHIL thesis at the School of Graduate Studies (SOGS),

UPSA. Any information provided will be held strictly confidential as it is being used for

academic purposes only. Please answer the following questions completely. It will take

approximately 15 minutes for you to complete this survey. If you have any questions about this

survey, please do not hesitate to contact me on 0242211117 / 0200981312 or via email

aduyeboah83@gmail.com.Thank you for your time and participation.

Sincerely,

Adu-Yeboah Emmanuel

School of Graduates Studies

Faculty of Management

UPSA

128
These are few questions to describe you. Kindly tick the appropriate response which best
describes you. Please do not skip any questions because they will help me make useful
comparisons in the study.

Personal Data

1. Gender
c) Female
d) Male

2. Age (in years)

d) 24-35
e) 36-40
f) 40 and above

3. Education

d) Cert A

e) Diploma

f) Degree

g) Second Degree

4. Tenure at post

d) 1-5

e) 6-10

f) 11 and above

129
Here are a number of personality traits that may or may not apply to you. Please tick the correct

statement to indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with that statement. You should

rate the extent to which the pair of traits applies to you, even if one characteristic applies more

strongly than the other. Disagree strongly= 1, Disagree = 2, Neutral =3, Agree = 4, Agree

strongly = 5

I see myself as someone who...

1 2 3 4 5

DS D N A AS
5. Is talkative
6. Tends to find fault with others
7. Does a thorough job
8. Is depressed, blue
9. Is original, comes up with new ideas
10. Is reserved
11. Is helpful and unselfish with others
12. Can be somewhat careless
13. Is relaxed, handles stress well
14. Is curious about many different things
15. Is full of energy
16. Starts quarrels with others
17. Is a reliable worker
18. Can be tense
19. Is ingenious, a deep thinker
20. Generates a lot of enthusiasm
21. Has a forgiving nature
22 Tends to be disorganized
23. Worries a lot
24. Has an active imagination
25. Tends to be quiet
26. Is generally trusting
27. Tends to be lazy
28. Is emotionally stable, not easily upset
29. Is inventive
30. Has an assertive personality
31. Can be cold and aloof
32. Perseveres until the task is finished
33. Can be moody 130
34. Values artistic, aesthetic experiences
35. Is sometimes shy, inhibited
36. Is considerate and kind to almost everyone
37. Does things efficiently
38. Remains calm in tense situations
39. Prefers work that is routine
40. Is outgoing, sociable
41. Is sometimes rude to others
42. Makes plans and follows through with them
43. Gets nervous easily
44. Likes to reflect, play with ideas
45. Has few artistic interests
46 Likes to cooperate with others
.47 Is easily distracted
.48 Is sophisticated in art, music, or literature

131
 APPENDIX B

Name of school Number of Headteachers Number of Teachers

Anyaa M/A 1 2 4

Anyaa M/A 2 2 4

Greta D. Shepherd 1 2 4

Greta D. Shepherd 2 2 4

Holy Child R.C J.H.S 2 4

Anyaa Community Exp. 1 2 4

Anyaa Community Exp. 2 2 4

Awoshei Islamic School 2 4

Chantan M/A Experimental 2 4

Abeka Moto Way J.H.S 1 2 4

Abeka Moto Way J.H.S 2 2 4

Salvation Army school 1 2 4

Salvation Army school 2 2 4

Odogornor Model Basic School 2 4

St. Justin Anglican Primary 1 2 4

St. Justin Anglican Primary 2 2 4

St. Justin Anglican J.H.S 1 2 4

St. Justin Anglican J.H.S 2 2 4

Anbell School 2 4

Deoke Foundation 2 4

The New Vision School 2 4

New Vision Montessori 2 4

132
Mount Zion School 2 4

Apostle Sarfo Arts & Science School 2 4

Wisdom Age Montessori 2 4

Moundees Preparatory School 2 4

Seventh Day Montessori 2 4

Emmaus Methodist School 2 4

Good Shepherd School Complex 2 4

Royal Crown Int. School 2 4

Total 60 120

133