Gender, Education and Marital Status as Determinants of Leadership Styles among Pastoral Leaders

Abstract

This study assessesthe influence of gender, education and marital status on transformational, transactional, and laissez faire leadership styles among pastoral leaders in churches around the metropolis of Abuja, Nigeria. Design of this study was a cross-sectional survey design and data were collected with The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ). One hundred and seventy (99 males; 71 females) pastoral leadersin Abuja, Nigeria selected with incidental random sampling technique, provided the data that were analyzed. Multivarate analysis of variance on the data revealedno significant gender difference in leadership styles, F(4, 165) = 1.574, P> .05), no significant marital status difference in leadership styles, F(8, 328) = 1.373, P> .05, and a significant educational level difference in leadership styles,F(16, 496) = 1.508, P< .05) among pastoral leaders. It was concluded that while education determines pastoral leaders' leadership style; gender and marital status do not. It is recommended that future research adopt mixed method in data collection. Keywords-Gender, educational, marital status, transformational leadership, transactional leadership, laissez faire leadership and pastoral leaders.