Follower Perceptions of Authentic Leadership: A Comparison between Respondents from Romania and the United States

As a reaction to negative examples of contemporary leadership practice in various societal areas, authentic leadership theory proposes to offer an alternative values-based model. Drawing upon the work of Kernis (2003), Avolio and Gardner (2005) and Walumbwa, Avolio, Gardner, Wernsing, and Peterson (2008), the present endeavor employs the concept of authentic leadership as consisting of the following four dimensions: self-awareness, relational transparency, internalized moral perspective, and balanced processing. Based on previous research about the influence of national culture on leadership behavior, the present endeavor develops a model, which proposes that employees in low power distance cultures perceive their leaders as more authentic than employees in secular and high power distance cultures. The hypothesis was tested among employees from Romania and USA (N = 42). The results revealed there were no significant differences between the two groups in what the four dimensions of authentic leadership are concerned. Implications for leadership research are discussed.