Leadership Self-Efficacy Scale. A New Multidimensional Instrument

The paper presents a new multidimensional scale for measuring Leadership Self-Efficacy (LSE). Six-hundred and ninety-five individuals participated in the study: 372 university students and 323 non-student adults. The research was conducted via a self-administered questionnaire. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed. The final LSE scale is made up of 21 items referring to six correlated dimensions (Starting and leading change processes in groups, Choosing effective followers and delegating responsibilities, Building and managing interpersonal relationships within the group, Showing self-awareness and self-confidence, Motivating people, Gaining consensus of group members), all loading on a second-order General Leadership Self-Efficacy factor. The LSE scale showed sufficient psychometric properties and stability of the factorial structure in both groups. In order to obtain evidence about convergent and discriminant validity of the scale, correlations with General Self-Efficacy, Machiavellianism, Motivation to Lead, past and present leadership experiences were considered. Moreover, gender differences in LSE scores were assessed. Results are presented and discussed.