The Trend of Authentic Leadership Skills in Nursing Education: The Key Role of Perfectionism and Self-Efficacy

Abstract

(1) Background: Shaping leadership skills is a complex process, which may be modified by psychological factors such as self-efficacy and perfectionism. The aim of the study was to determine whether perfectionism can be a mediator between self-efficacy, and authentic leadership skills in nursing students; (2) Methods: The cross-sectional study included 615 Polish nursing students (women = 96.3%) was carried out at Medical University of Warsaw in 2019. The following research tools were used: Authentic Leadership Questionnaire, Almost Perfect Scale-Revised (APS-R), and General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES); (3) Results: The level of perfectionism is a significant mediator of relations between self-efficacy as measured by the GSES and the level of authentic leadership (Sobel test: t = 6.958; p < 0.000). The relation, without a mediating factor, is positive, and the standardized beta coefficient for the feeling of self-efficacy totals beta = 0.470 (p < 0.000), while in the presence of a mediator the strength of the correlation is smaller and amounts to beta = 0.366 (p < 0.000); (4) Conclusions: Personality factors such as self-efficacy and perfectionism play an important role in shaping AL skills of nursing students. Therefore, academic teachers should pay special attention to strengthening students’ self-efficacy and adaptive perfectionism. In this context, adequate feedback and reflection may be important.