Leadership Style and Emotional Intelligence: A Gender Comparison

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between three distinct variables: gender, leadership style, and emotional intelligence. Two leadership styles were explored: transactional and transformational. No significant gender differences were found between either of the two. Emotional intelligence was defined by five factors: Self-Awareness, Managing Emotion, Self-Motivation, Relating Well, and Emotional Mentoring. Women were found to score more highly than men in the two Interpersonal factors: Relating Well and Emotional Mentoring. Finally, there was a noticeably higher interaction between three components of E.l (Self-Awareness, Self-Motivation and Emotional Mentoring) and the transactional, rather than transformational leadership style.

Keywords: Leadership, Emotional Intelligence, Gender and Comparison.