Developing Leaders: Understanding and Promoting Perceived Leadership Ability.

The three studies in this dissertation contribute to our understanding of leadership development by examining perceived leadership ability among underserved adolescents and emerging adults. Study 1 and 2 utilized data from the Flint Adolescent Study, which followed participants from high school into adulthood. Participants in the sample were predominantly African American and all demonstrated low academic performance. Study 1 considered the influence of context on perceived leadership ability by examining changes in perceived leadership ability during the developmental period known as emerging adulthood. Findings demonstrated that perceived leadership ability declined between the ages of 18 and 22, with the largest declines occurring among emerging adults who did not attend four year colleges. These findings suggest that perceived leadership ability is malleable and responds to contextual factors, such as limited access to leadership roles during emerging adulthood. Study 2 explored the relationship between adolescent leadership and adult thriving. Findings demonstrated that adolescents’ perceived leadership ability predicted leadership roles in later adolescence, which predicted adult mental health and community participation. Adolescent perceived leadership ability also directly predicted adult community participation. These findings suggest that perceived leadership ability, in addition to leadership roles, provides a useful indicator of adolescent thriving among underserved youth. Study 3 utilized data collected as part of the program evaluation of Badges for Baseball, a juvenile crime prevention program for middle school-aged youth, and sought to identify predictors and mechanisms by which perceived leadership ability develops among adolescents. The study focused on the role of interpersonal skills in promoting perceived leadership ability. Findings revealed that adolescents’ empathy and social competence were unrelated and they contributed to perceived leadership ability in different ways. The effects of empathy on perceived leadership ability were mediated by community participation and peer support, whereas social competence was directly related to perceived leadership ability. These findings suggest that different profiles may exist among youth with high perceived leadership ability and raises questions about how their leadership behaviors may differ. Together, these studies contribute to our understanding of leadership development among underserved adolescents and emerging adults and offer implications for practice to support their leadership development.PhDEducation & PsychologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135781/1/sssmoore_1.pd