Leaders, followers and their personalities

Abstract

In this study we want to determine whether there is a relationship between the personality types of the leaders and followers. With this research we also try to establish whether there is a certain preferred leader personality, whether sex is a determination on leader personality and whether the leader and the followers display a similar personality trait. The research was conducted with 203 university students from Department of Public Administration, Department of Turkish Language and Literature, Department of Physical Training and Sports, Department of Pre-School Education and State Conservatory of Sakarya University in 2012–2013 academic year. The results of the study depict that when choosing a leader, university students generally prefer narcissist personalities and there is a concurrence between the personality and leader preference. Each personality type preferred each personality type. However, obsessed personality type is preferred the least as a leader and they are usually seen as lonely individuals.