The Trend of Authentic Leadership Skills in Nursing Education: The Key Role of Perfectionism and Self-Efficacy

Abstract

(1) Background: Shaping leadership skills is a complex process, which may be modified by psychological factors such as self-efficacy and perfectionism. The aim of the study was to determine whether perfectionism can be a mediator between self-efficacy, and authentic leadership skills in nursing students; (2) Methods: The cross-sectional study included 615 Polish nursing students (women = 96.3%) was carried out at Medical University of Warsaw in 2019. The following research tools were used: Authentic Leadership Questionnaire, Almost Perfect Scale-Revised (APS-R), and General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES); (3) Results: The level of perfectionism is a significant mediator of relations between self-efficacy as measured by the GSES and the level of authentic leadership (Sobel test: t = 6.958; p < 0.000). The relation, without a mediating factor, is positive, and the standardized beta coefficient for the feeling of self-efficacy totals beta = 0.470 (p < 0.000), while in the presence of a mediator the strength of the correlation is smaller and amounts to beta = 0.366 (p < 0.000); (4) Conclusions: Personality factors such as self-efficacy and perfectionism play an important role in shaping AL skills of nursing students. Therefore, academic teachers should pay special attention to strengthening students’ self-efficacy and adaptive perfectionism. In this context, adequate feedback and reflection may be important.

The effect of perfectionism on relative deprivation among nursing students: The role of interpersonal sensitivity and resilience

“…Our study found that maladaptive perfectionism signifcantly positively predicted the relative deprivation of nursing students, which supported Hypothesis 1b. This result is consistent with previous results (Jaworski et al, 2022).…”

“…Our study found that maladaptive perfectionism signifcantly positively predicted the relative deprivation of nursing students, which supported Hypothesis 1b. This result is consistent with previous results (Jaworski et al, 2022). Nursing students with high maladaptive perfectionism tendency compare themselves with others as a measure of their perfection (Molnar et al, 2023), and upward social comparison is the core of relative deprivation (Kim et al, 2018).…”

Authentic Leadership and its Relation to Nurses’ Self- Efficacy

“…The result of the present study is consistent with Bryan & Vitello-Cicciu (2022) who found that the study nurse managers perceived themselves to demonstrate moderate to high levels of authentic leadership. Furthermore, the result of the present study is in the same line with Jaworski et al (2022) who stated that there was a high level of authentic leadership skills that allowed nurse managers to create a positive work environment. On the other hand, the current study finding is contradicted with Pradipto et al (2018) who found that authentic leadership level was moderate, and also did not play a significant role to nurses' silence.…”

The impact of authentic leadership on nurses’ locus of control and general self-efficacy during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…No correlation was found between authentic leadership and GSE, which means that, notwithstanding their general self-efficacy, the respondents' authentic leadership remains intact. Although this finding is similar to those of the study by Fallatah et al (2017) it runs counter to the findings of earlier studies (Jaworski et al, 2022). The authors demonstrated that self-efficacy was positively correlated with authentic leadership, and they additionally illuminated that having a high level of self-efficacy makes it possible for individuals to build authentic leadership skills more efficiently.…”