The Moderating Role of Gender and Age in the Relationship Between School Principals' Inclusive Leadership Behaviors and Teachers' Organizational Cynicism Levels

Year 2023, Volume: 10 Issue: 3, 191 - 208, 01.05.2023

Mehmet Sabir Çevik Ali Culha Mehmet Nezir Çevik

https://doi.org/10.17275/per.23.51.10.3

Abstract

One of the distinct leadership styles in influencing the attitudes and behaviors of employees in organizations is inclusive leadership, which means hints at that there may be a relationship between inclusive leadership and organizational behavior. This study, which was designed with a correlational study model, aims to determine the moderating role of gender and age in the relationship between school principals' inclusive leadership behaviors and teachers' organizational cynicism levels. The study data were collected from the study population consisting of 4583 teachers. The sample consisted of 377 teachers, which were reached through the simple random sampling method. In addition, the inclusive leadership and organizational cynicism scales were used while collecting data. The results were obtained using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation), Pearson's product-moment correlation, and the modulation-effect analysis. Based on this study, school principals' inclusive leadership behavior levels were high, while teachers' organizational cynicism levels were low. Again, there is a moderately negative and significant relationship between school principals' inclusive leadership behaviors and teachers' organizational cynicism. Also, this study revealed that gender and age have a moderating effect on the relationship between school principals' inclusive leadership behaviors and teachers' organizational cynicism. The influence of school principals' inclusive leadership behaviors on teachers' organizational cynicism levels was high in on female teachers and less in younger teachers.

Keywords

inclusive leadership, organizational cynicism, school principal, moderating effect

References

• Abraham, R. (2000). Organizational cynicism: Bases and consequences. Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monographs, 126(3), 269-292.
• Adapa, S., & Sheridan, A. (2018). Inclusive leadership: Negotiating gendered spaces. Springer.
• Aiken, L. S., West, S. G., & Reno, R. R. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Sage.
• Ainscow, M., & Sandill, A. (2010). Developing inclusive education systems: The role of organisational cultures and leadership. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 14(4), 401-416.
• Akan, D., Bektaş, F., & Yıldırım, İ. (2014). The relationship between ethical leadership and organizational cynicism according to classroom teacher perceptions. NWSA-Education Sciences, 9(1), 48-56.
• Akın, U. (2015). Examining the relationship between organizational cynicism and trust in schools: A study on teachers. Education and Science, 40(181),175-189.
• Altınel Yüncü, Z. (2022). Teachers' perceptions of school administrators' inclusive leadership characteristics. (Unpublished master’s thesis). Pamukkale University, Denizli.
• Ayik, A., Şayir, G., & Bilici, A. (2016). The effect of regular and practical traffic training in formal education on children's traffic knowledge and perception. Pegem Journal of Education and Instruction, 6(2), 233-254, http://dx.doi.org/10.14527/pegegog.2016.013.
• Azorín, C., & Ainscow, M. (2020) Guiding schools on their journey towards inclusion. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 24(1), 58-76, https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2018.1450900
• Bennett, J. M. (2014). Intercultural competence: Vital perspectives for diversity and inclusion. In B. M. Ferdman & B. R. Deane (Eds.), Diversity at work: The practice of inclusion (pp.177-202). Jossey-Bass, A Wiley Brand.
• Bernerth, J. B., Armenakis, A. A., Field, H. S., & Walker, H. (2007). Justice, cynicism, and Commitment A Study of Important Organizational Change Variables. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 43(3), 303-326.
• Boekhorst, J. A. (2015). The role of authentic leadership in fostering workplace inclusion: A social information processing perspective. Human Resource Management, 54(2), 241-264.
• Bortini, P., Paci, A., Rise, A., & Rojnik, I. (2016). Inclusive leadership–Theoretical framework. European Commission.
• Brandes, P. (1997). Organizational cynism: Its nature, antecedents and consequences. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Cincinnati, USA.
• Brandes, P., Dharwadkar. R., & Dean Jr. J.W. (1999). Does organizational cynicism matter? Employee and supervisior perspectives on work outcomes. The 36th Annual Meeting of the Eastern Academy of Management. 1-33.
• Brown, M., & Cregan, C. (2008), Organizational Change Cynicism: The Role of Employee Involvement, Human Resource Management, 47(4), 667-686.
• Büyüköztürk, Ş. (2011). The data analysis handbook for the social sciences. Pegem Publishing.
• Carmeli, A., Reiter-Palmon, R., & Ziv, E. (2010). Inclusive leadership and employee involvement in creative tasks in the workplace: The mediating role of psychological safety. Creativity Research Journal, 22(3), 250-260.
• Cartwright, S., & Holmes, N. (2006). The meaning of work: The challenge of regaining employee engagement and reducing cynicism. Human Resource Management Review, 16(2), 199-208.
• Carvalho, M., Azevedo, H., & Vale, C. (2019). Leadership for inclusion: Perspectives from Portuguese school principals. 11th International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies (pp. 8163-8167).
• Chen, L., Luo, F., Zhu, X., Huang, X., & Liu, Y. (2020). Inclusive leadership promotes challenge-oriented organizational citizenship behavior through the mediation of work engagement and moderation of organizational innovative atmosphere. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 1-16.
• Chin, J. L. (2010). Introduction to the special issue on diversity and leadership. American Psychologist, 65(3), 150-156.
• Cohen, J., Cohen, P., West, S. G., & Aiken, L. S. (2003). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences (3th eds.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.
• Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative. quantitative. and mixed methods approaches. Thousand Oaks. CA: Sage.
• Crisol Moya, E., Molonia, T., & Caurcel Cara, M. J. (2020). Inclusive leadership and education quality: Adaptation and validation of the questionnaire “inclusive leadership in schools” (LEI-Q) to the Italian context. Sustainability, 12(13), 5375. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12135375
• Dean, J., Brande, P., & Dharwadkar, R., (1998). Organizational cynicism. Academy of Management Review, 23(2), 341-352.
• Devecchi, C., & Nevin, A. (2010). Leadership for inclusive schools and inclusive school leadership, Normore, A.H. (Ed.). Global perspectives on educational leadership reform: The development and preparation of leaders of learning and learners of leadership. Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp. 211-241. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-3660(2010)0000011014
• Doğan, S., & Uğurlu, C. T. (2014). The relationship between school administrators' ethical leadership behaviors and teachers' perceptions of organizational cynicism. Journal of Gazi University Gazi Education Faculty, 34(3), 489-516.
• Eaton, J. A. (2000). A social motivation approach to organizational cynicism (Unpublished doctoral thesis). Graduate Program in Psychology, York University, Toronto.
• Edmondson, A. (2004). Psychological safety, trust, and learning in organizations: A group-level lens. In R. M. Kramer & K. S. Cook (Eds.), Trust and distrust in organizations: Dilemmas and approaches (pp. 239-272). Russell Sage.
• Evans, W. R., Goodman, J. M., & Davis, W. D. (2010). The impact of perceived corporate citizenship on organizational cynicism, OCB, and employee deviance. Human Performance, 24(1), 79-97.
• Ferdman, B. M. (2014). The practice of inclusion in diverse organizations: Toward a systemic and inclusive framework. In B. M. Ferdman & B. Deane (Eds.), Diversity at work: The practice of inclusion (pp. 3-54). Jossey-Bass. Diversity at Work: The Practice of Inclusion.
• Fındık, M., & Eryeşil, K. (2012). A research to determine the effect of organizational cynicism on organizational commitment. International Iron & Steel Symposium Proceedings Book, (pp. 1250-1255). Karabük.
• Fournier, E., Scott, S. & Scott, D. E. (2020). Inclusive leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic: How to respond within an inclusion framework. Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration & Management, 48(1), 17-23.
• Ganon-Shilon, S., Finkelstein, I., Sela-Shayovitz, R., & Schechter, C. (2022). Inclusive Leadership in Times of COVID-19 Crisis: The Role of District and School Leaders in Fostering School Sense-Making Processes within a National Inclusion and Integration Reform, Leadership and Policy in Schools, https://doi.org/10.1080/ 15700763.2022.2052907
• Garrison-Wade, D., Sobel, D., & Fulmer, C. L. (2007). Inclusive leadership: Preparing principals for the role that awaits them. Educational Leadership and Administration: Teaching and Program Development, 19, 117-132.
• Gedik, A., & Üstüner, M. (2019). The effect of teachers' perceived principal management style on organizational cynicism levels. Pamukkale University Journal of Social Sciences Institute, 37, 53-68.
• Green, S. B., & Salkind. N. J. (2010). Using SPSS for windows and macintosh: Analyzing and understanding data. Upper Saddle River. NJ: Pearson Education. Inc.
• Hargreaves, A., & Fink, D. (2012). Sustainable leadership. John Wiley & Sons.
• Hayes, J. (2018). The theory and practice of change management. UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Helvacı, M. A., & Çetin, A. (2012). Determination of organizational cynicism levels of teachers working in primary schools (Uşak province sample). Turkish Studies, 7(3), 1475-1497.
• Hirak, R., Peng, A. C., Carmeli, A., & Schaubroeck, J. M. (2012). Linking leader inclusiveness to work unit performance: The importance of psychological safety and learning from failures. The Leadership Quarterly, 23(1), 107-117.
• Hollander, E. P. (2008). Inclusive leadership: The essential leader-follower relationship. Routledge. Psychology Press.
• Inandi, Y., & Gılıç, F., (2021). The relationship between school administrators’ leadership styles and organisational cynicism from teachers’ perspectives. South African Journal of Education, 41(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v41n1a1825
• Janakiraman, M. (2011). Inclusive leadership: Critical for a competitive advantage. Berlitz Cultural Insights Series. https://slidelegend.com/inclusive-leadership-critical-for-a-competitive-advantage-berlitz_59d78fd01723dd5283382ddc.html
• Javed, B., Naqvi, S. M. M. R., Khan, A. K., Arjoon, S., & Tayyeb, H. H. (2017). Impact of inclusive leadership on innovative work behavior: The role of psychological safety. Journal of Management & Organization, 23(3), 472-472.
• Jolly, P. M., & Lee, L. (2020). Silence is not golden: Motivating employee voice through inclusive leadership. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 45(6), 1092-1113. https://doi.org/10.1177/1096348020963699
• Jose, P. E. (2013). Doing statistical mediation and moderation. The Guilford Press.
• Kalağan, G., & Güzeller, C. O.(2010). Examination of teachers' organizational cynicism levels. Pamukkale University Faculty of Education Journal, 27, 83-97.
• Kalağan, G. (2009). The relationship between research assistants' perceptions of organizational support and organizational cynicism attitudes. (Unpublished master's thesis). Akdeniz University, Antalya.
• Kiikkilä, O. (2021). Characteristics of inclusive leadership and differences in awareness and attitudes. (Unpublished Master's Thesis). Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, AALTO University, Finland.
• Kim, J., Park, E., & Snell, M. E. (2005). Impact of information and weekly contact on attitudes of Korean general educators and nondisabled students regarding peers with disabilities. Mental Retardation, 43(6), 401-415.
• Kline, R. B. (2011). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. The Guilford Press.
• Kuknor, S. C., & Bhattacharya, S. (2020). Inclusive leadership: New age leadership to foster organizational inclusion. European Journal of Training and Development. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJTD-07-2019-0132
• Lee, S. E., & Dahinten, V. S. (2021). Psychological safety as a mediator of the relationship between inclusive leadership and nurse voice behaviors and error reporting. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 53(6), 737-745.
• Lyons, W. (2016). Principal preservice education for leadership in inclusive schools. Canadian Journal of Action Research, 17(1), 36-50.
• Matrecia, J. (2005). Antecedents and consequences of cynicism in organizations: An examination of the potential positive and negative effects on school systems. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation), The Florida State University, USA.
• McCauley, C. D., & Van Velsor, E. (2004). Handbook of leadership development. Jossey-Bass, Wiley & Sons.
• Mertens, D. M. (2014). Research and evaluation in education and psychology: Integrating diversity with quantitative. qualitative. and mixed methods. Sage.
• Mitchell, R., Boyle, B., Parker, V., Giles, M., Chiang, V., & Joyce, P.(2015). Managing inclusiveness and diversity in teams: How leader inclusiveness affects performance through status and team identity. Human Resource Management, 54, 217-239.
• Naus, A. J. A. M. (2007). Organizational cynicism: on the nature, antecedents, and consequences of employee cynicism toward the employing organization (Unpublished doctoral thesis). Maastricht University.
• Nembhard, I. M., & Edmondson, A. C. (2006). Making it safe: The effects of leader inclusiveness and professional status on psychological safety and improvement efforts in health care teams. Journal of Organizational Behavior: The International Journal of Industrial, Occupational and Organizational Psychology and Behavior, 27(7), 941-966.
• Okçu, V., & Deviren. İ. (2020). Turkish adaptation of the inclusive leadership scale for educational organizations: A validity and reliability study. MSKU Journal of Education], 7(2), 180-192. http://doi.org/ 10.21666/ muefd.770115
• Óskarsdóttir, E., Donnelly, V., Turner-Cmuchal, M., & Florian, L. (2020), Inclusive school leaders -their role in raising the achievement of all learners. Journal of Educational Administration, 58(5), 521-537. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-10-2019-0190
• Pallant, J. (2005). SPSS survival manual: A step by step guide to data analysis using SPSS for Windows (Version 12). Ligare. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
• Pelit, N., & Pelit, E. (2014). Mobbing ve örgütsel sinizm. Ankara: Detay Publishing.
• Peng, W., Yu, X. J., & Zhu, Q. W. (2017). Inclusive leader scale development and validation in Chinese context. Sci. Technol. Prog. Policy, 34, 124-130. doi: 10.6049/kjjbydc.2017010314
• Polatcan, M., & Titrek, O. (2014). The relationship between leadership behaviors of school principals and their organizational cynicism attitudes. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 141, 1291-1303.
• Randel, A. E., Galvin, B. M., Shore, L. M., Ehrhart, K. H., Chung, B. G., Dean, M. A., & Kedharnath, U. (2018). Inclusive leadership: Realizing positive outcomes through belongingness and being valued for uniqueness. Human Resource Management Review, 28(2), 190-203.
• Roberson, Q., & Perry, J. L. (2022). Inclusive leadership in thought and action: A thematic analysis. Group & Organization Management, 47(4), 755-778.
• Rubin, R. S., Dierdorff, E. C., Bommer, W. H., & Baldwin, T. T. (2009). Do leaders reap what they sow? leader and employee outcomes of leader organizational cynicism about change. The Leadership Quarterly, 20, 680-688.
• Sabharwal, M. (2014). Is diversity management sufficient? Organizational inclusion to further performance. Public Personnel Management, 43(2), 197-217.
• Sekaran, U., & Bougie. R. (2009). Research methods for business: A skill building approach. Chichester: J. Wiley.
• Shea, L. (2009). The Cynic Enlightenment Diogenes in the Salon, The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland.
• Shore, L. M., Randel, A. E., Chung, B. G., Dean, M. A., Holcombe Ehrhart, K., & Singh, G. (2011). Inclusion and diversity in work groups: A review and model for future research. Journal of Management, 37(4), 1262-1289.
• Suk, C. B., Hanh, T. B. T., & Byungll, P. (2015). Inclusive leadership and work engagement: Mediating roles of affective organizational commitment and creativity. Social Behavior and Personality, 43, 931-943.
• Sung, S. L. S. (2021). Effects of Inclusive Leadership on Job Satisfaction: The Mediating Role of Organizational Justice (Doctoral dissertation, Alliant International University).
• Şamdan, T., & Baskan, G. A. (2019). Examining the relationship between organizational justice and organizational cynicism according to teachers' perceptions. Pamukkale University Faculty of Education Journal, 47, 17-40. https://doi.org/10.9779/pauefd.479173
• Şanlıurfa Karaköprü District Directorate of National Education (2022). https://karakopru.meb.gov.tr/ (Date of Access: 24.11.2022).
• Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell. L. S. (2013). Using multivariate statistics (6th ed.). Allynand Bacon.
• Tangirala, S., & Ramanujam, R. (2012). Ask and you shall hear (but not always): Examining the relationship between manager consultation and employee voice. Personnel Psycholology, 65, 251-282.
• Van Knippenberg, D., & van Ginkel, W. P. (2022). A diversity mindset perspective on inclusive leadership. Group & Organization Management, 47(4), 779-797.
• Van Reusen, K. A., Shoho, A. R., & Barker, K. S. (2001). High school teacher attitudes toward inclusion. The High School Journal, 84(2), 7-20.
• Waldron, N. L., McLeskey, J., & Redd, L. (2011). Setting the direction: the role of the principal in developing an effective, inclusive school. Journal of Special Education Leadership, 24(2), 51-60.
• Wasserman, I. C., Gallegos, P. V., & Ferdman, B. M. (2008). Dancing with resistance. Diversity Resistance in Organizations, 175-200.
• Workman-Stark, A. L. (2017). Inclusive Policing from the inside out. Cham: Springer International Publishing.
• Wuffli, P. A. (2016). Inclusive leadership: A framework for the global ERA. Cham: Springer.
• Yan, J., Zhang, X., & Shao, F. (2017). Influence of subordinates’ challengeoriented organizational citizenship behavior on performance appraisal: Moderating effect of supervisor’s organizational commitment. Manage. Rev. 29, 134-142.
• Ye, Q., Wang, D., & Li, X. (2019). Inclusive leadership and employees’ learning from errors: a moderated mediation model. Australian Journal of Management, 44(3), 462-481.
• Yücel, İ., & Çetinkaya, B. (2015). Relationship between organizational cynicism and organizational commitment and moderating effects of age of employees on the relationship “Sometimes we may have to stay even if we don’t want it! Journal of Atatürk University Institute of Social Sciences, 19(3), 247-271.
• Zwane, S. L., & Malale, M. M. (2018). Investigating barriers teachers face in the implementation of inclusive education in high schools in Gege branch, Swaziland. African Journal of Disability (Online), 7, 1-12.