PSYCHOLOGY MASTER'S THESIS ABSTRACT

Rosee Croker
Industrial/Organizational
August 2004

The Effect of Leadership Style on Employee Work Ethic

    The present study investigates the effect of supervisors’ use of different leadership styles on employees’ work ethic over a 6 week period of time.  Seventy-seven newly hired food servers were surveyed, using the Occupational Work Ethic Inventory (OWEI) to determine a base level of work ethic.  After 6 weeks, these employees were assessed a second time using the OWEI.  They were also asked to evaluate their supervisor, using the Multi-factor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ), to determine the supervisor’s leadership style.  The results of the study indicated a significant positive correlation between transformational leadership style and employee work ethic change, no significant correlation between transactional leadership style and employee work ethic change, and no significant correlation between laissez-faire leadership style and employee work ethic change.  Implications of the research results and future research directions are discussed.

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