A two-nation investigation of leadership self-perceptions and motivation to lead in early adulthood: The moderating role of gender and socio-economic status

Abstract

Purpose: Drawing on social-cognitive and motivational literature of leadership, the present study examines the influence of young adults’ self-perceptions of leadership on their leadership self-efficacy and motivation to lead in their future career. We further examine gender and socio-economic status (SES) as important moderators of the proposed relationships. Design/methodology/approach: The present investigation consists of a two-study research design, based on data collected from young adult samples across two culturally different countries, namely UK (N=267) and Japan (N=127). Findings: The study presents evidence of self-perceptions of leadership influencing leadership self-efficacy and motivation to lead. The results further support the mediating role of leader self-efficacy. Regarding the moderating role of gender, results in both samples showed that the effects of leader-self efficacy on motivation to lead were stronger for males. Socio-economic status was found to moderate the effects of leadership self-perceptions of negative ILTs on leadership self-efficacy in the UK sample and the effects of leadership self-perceptions of positive ILTs on leadership self-efficacy in the Japanese sample. Originality: This study fills the gap of empirical research focused on early adulthood influences on leadership development. In particular, this study has a three-fold contribution, by, firstly, developing a conceptual model that examines the role of young adults’ self-perceptions of leadership on their self-efficacy as leaders and motivation-to-lead; secondly examining contingencies of the proposed relationships; and thirdly testing the conceptual model in two countries.