Aspiring to Lead: An Investigation into the Interactions between Self-Esteem, Patriarchal Attitudes, Gender, and Christian Leadership

Abstract

Self-esteem has been linked to almost every aspect of people's lives including their leadership aspirations. This study tested the relationship between self-esteem, gender, and leadership aspirations and examined the potential interaction effect of patriarchal attitudes. Studies have found that women report lower levels of self-esteem than men. Men and women attending Christian bible colleges have reported differences in self-esteem compared to the general population, with male Christian bible college students reporting the highest levels of self-esteem (Bredfeldt, 1991). in the current study, we sought to replicate Bredfeldt's (1991) findings of gender differences in self-esteem among Christian men and women using a contemporary sample of 112 Evangelical Christian seminary students who completed the same measure of self-esteem used in the Bredfeldt study along with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. In addition, we examined the interaction between self-esteem, leadership aspirations and patriarchal attitudes. Although we found no differences in self-esteem between Christian men and women, our results supported the importance of self-esteem in determining leadership aspirations. However, the nature of the relationship between self-esteem and leadership aspirations was meaningfully affected by patriarchal attitudes and this effect differed by gender. Implications for the future of church leadership are discussed.