Date of Graduation
Summer 2026
Degree
Master of Science in Psychology
Department
Mental Health & Behavioral Science
Committee Chair
Shin Han
Abstract
Although cultural contexts are recognized as important factors in understanding leadership behavior, less is known about how followers’ personality traits predict their preferences for specific leadership styles. Using the Big Five personality model, this study investigated how extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience predicted preferences for transformational and servant leadership among 592 university students in the United States (n = 400) and Bangladesh (n = 192). The study also examined whether cultural context moderated these relationships. Multiple regression analyses indicated that agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience were significant positive predictors of both transformational and servant leadership preferences, whereas extraversion did not predict either style. Opposite to the hypothesized direction, neuroticism positively predicted preference for both leadership styles. Also, participants from Bangladesh reported higher transformational leadership preferences than those from the U.S., whereas no significant cultural difference was observed for servant leadership preference. Hierarchical moderated regression analyses revealed that cultural context did not moderate the relationships between personality traits and leadership preferences, indicating that the relationship between personality and leadership preferences were similar across both countries. These findings contribute to the leadership literature by demonstrating the role of follower personality in shaping leadership preferences and providing practical insights into cross-cultural leadership development.
Keywords
Big Five personality, transformational leadership preference, servant leadership preference, cross-cultural comparison, Bangladesh, United States
Subject Categories
Industrial and Organizational Psychology
Copyright
© Sheikh Habiba Amjad
Recommended Citation
Amjad, Sheikh Habiba, "A Cross-Cultural Study of Positive Leadership: Examining the Role of Personality Traits in Predicting Transformational and Servant Leadership Among U.S. And Bangladeshi Students" (2026). Graduate Theses/Dissertations. 4195.
https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/4195
