Perceived servant-leadership attributes, union commitment, and union member participation: A quantitative analysis

This study represented an initial effort to systematically examine the effects of the perception of servant-leadership attributes in union leaders on the commitment and participation levels of union members. Using Barbuto and Wheeler's (2006) Servant Leadership Questionnaire, and Gordon, Philpot, Burt, Thompson and Spiller's (1980) Commitment to the Union Scale, 535 members of a U.S.-based, national healthcare union rated their union leaders on servant-leadership attributes, and answered a series of questions designed to assess their level of union commitment. Additionally, demographic and participation information was collected. A combination of descriptive statistics, and Baron and Kenny's (1986) mediation methodology was used to determine the relationship between servant-leadership attributes, union commitment attributes, and an overall participation score. Demographic information was used to determine generalizability. The results of this study indicate that each attribute of servant-leadership showed a relationship with overall union member participation and with each attribute of union commitment. The only instance in which an attribute of union commitment consistently mediated the relationship between servant-leadership and overall union member participation was union loyalty. While the respondents in this study reported lower scores on those attributes of servant-leadership and union commitment that emphasize the personal over the collective, this does not negate the statistical significance of the impact on servant-leadership on union commitment. The results of this study confirms that, in the case of the sponsoring organization, servant-leadership is a viable leadership paradigm with the potential to increase both commitment to the union-as-organization, as well as increasing overall union member participation.