Character is a leadership quality that is often scrutinized yet poorly understood. Our research focuses on several questions relating to character and perceived leader effectiveness during the COVID-19 crisis. First, does the character of the prime minister matter to voters during major crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic? Second, are all dimensions that comprise the leader character framework we examined considered essential for political leadership in times of crisis? Third, is character related to perceptions of leadership effectiveness? Fourth, what role does identification-based trust play in the relationship between character and perceptions of leadership effectiveness in times of crisis? The results of our survey taken during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic reveal that character is considered among Canadians of voting age as an important ingredient of political leadership. We also found that there is a significant gap between the perceived importance of the dimensions that comprise character and the belief that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau lives up to the expectations. The congruence between the perceived importance of the character dimensions and the belief that Trudeau demonstrated these dimensions predicted leadership effectiveness, and this relationship was mediated by trust. Our results are based on perceptions of leadership effectiveness; that is, we do not have objective measures of performance. Public Significance StatementThis study advances our understanding of the importance of character in political leadership during crisis situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings explicate the behaviors associated with leader character. Additionally, the study reveals that trust helps to explain the effect of character on perceived effectiveness of leaders.

Virtues and character strengths are often assumed to be universal, considered equally important to individuals across cultures, religions, racial-ethnic groups, and genders. The results of our surveys and laboratory studies, however, bring to light subtle yet consistent gender differences in the importance attributed to character in leadership: women considered character to be more important to successful leadership in business than did men, and women had higher expectations that individuals should demonstrate character in a new leadership role. Further, the gender of the research participant affected character ratings such that male respondents viewed a female leader who exhibited agentic behaviors in a professionally challenging situation less positively than a male leader who displayed the same agentic behaviors. The data also showed that male participants rated almost every dimension of character displayed by the female leader lower than did female participants. Our findings suggest that the question as to what extent gender differences may bias the assessment of virtues and character strengths is an important one, and one for which the practical implications for individuals in organizations need to be studied in more detail.

Stress and the associated correlates, such as depression, alcohol abuse, and suicidal ideation, are a global issue among college and university students. We assert that character is a personal resource that students have at their disposal to address personal, social, and environmental challenges they may encounter in their personal and academic lives. The results of a field study involving undergraduate business students show that character, operationalized as a higher order construct consisting of 11 interrelated dimensions, has a direct effect on the subjective well-being of students and an indirect effect through the perceived stressfulness of life events. Our results imply that it is essential for faculty and students at management education institutions to fully appreciate the importance of character for effective functioning and to develop the various character dimensions to address adverse personal, social, and environmental situations in a positive fashion.

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