Authentic Leadership and Conflict‐Management Styles Among Nurse Leaders in Saudi Arabia: A Cross‐Sectional Study
Bayan AlilyyaniBackground
Conflict is an inherent feature of nursing practice and may arise from competing demands, diverse professional roles, resource constraints, and pressures in clinical decision‐making. Nurse leaders play an important role in managing workplace conflict and selecting conflict‐management approaches appropriate to different situations. Authentic leadership, characterized by relational transparency, ethical decision‐making, balanced processing, and self‐awareness, may be relevant to how nurse leaders approach and manage workplace conflict.
Aims
This study aimed to examine the relationship between authentic leadership and conflict‐management styles among nurse leaders in Saudi Arabia. Specifically, it examined the associations between authentic leadership and collaborating, accommodating, competing, avoiding, and compromising conflict‐management styles.
Methods
A cross‐sectional survey was conducted among 96 nurse leaders working in public healthcare institutions in Saudi Arabia. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire, the Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory–II, and the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, and linear regression, with multivariable adjustment for selected covariates and false discovery rate correction for exploratory analyses.
Results
Overall conflict management was significantly and positively associated with authentic leadership ( β = 0.469, R 2 = 0.220, p < 0.001). Significant positive associations were also observed for collaborating ( β = 0.500, R 2 = 0.250, p < 0.001), accommodating ( β = 0.431, R 2 = 0.186, p < 0.001), avoiding ( β = 0.444, R 2 = 0.197, p < 0.001), and compromising ( β = 0.472, R 2 = 0.223, p < 0.001). In contrast, competing was not significantly associated with authentic leadership ( β = 0.185, R 2 = 0.034, p = 0.071).
Conclusions
Authentic leadership was positively associated with collaborating, accommodating, avoiding, and compromising conflict‐management styles, but not with competing. These findings indicate associations rather than causation and warrant further longitudinal research.