Program
Education Doctorate
Year Approved
2020
First Advisor
Paulson, Craig
Abstract
The purpose of this investigation was to study the relationship between leader humility and teacher psychological capital in Minnesota secondary schools through a quantitative, cross-sectional study design. The four independent variables examined in this study were teacher-reported leader humility, as measured by the Expressed Humility Scale (Owens et al., 2913), principal gender, teacher gender, geographical location of Minnesota schools, and principal longevity. Teacher psychological capital, as measured by the Psychological Capital -12 Questionnaire (Avey, et al., 2011) was the dependent variable. Principals in 597 Minnesota secondary schools were given the opportunity to forward a survey to their teachers. Respondents were 287 teachers working in Minnesota secondary schools. Statistical analysis revealed a positive and significant relationship found between teacher-reported leader-humility and teacher-reported psychological capital (r = .288, p < 001). The study also demonstrated a significant and predictive relationship between both teacher-reported leader humility and principal tenure with teacher psychological capital. Leader humility (β = .309, p < .001) and leader longevity (β = .169, p < .005) predicted teacher-reported psychological capital, accounting for 11.1% of the variance of teacher-reported psychological capital. There were significant and positive relationships established between teachers’ self-report across all elements of psychological capital and all items on the Expressed Humility Scale. The strongest relationships were noted between principals who request feedback and teacher psychological capital, as well as leader-humility and teacher-reported PsyCap-optimism. There were no differences for variables of teacher gender, leader gender, or location of school in psychological capital of teachers. The only difference for leader or teacher gender was the lower number of female leaders in rural schools, with no differences noted for humility or psychological capital for gender.
Degree Name
Education Doctorate
Document Type
Doctoral dissertation
Recommended Citation
Flesher, K. F. (2020). The Relationship of Psychological Capital and Leader Humility in Minnesota Secondary Schools [Doctoral dissertation, Bethel University]. Spark Repository. https://spark.bethel.edu/etd/212
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