An empirical study on the effects of managers' personality traits on their leadership behaviors

Master's Program, Department of Business Affairs Thesis Advisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hasan Engin ŞENER August 2017, 105 pages The purpose of this research is to test the constituted hypotheses about the influence of the personality traits of middle and high level managers on their leadership behaviors employed at a public institution providing security service for public. A survey was prepared and the questions were directed to the subordinate personnel of the institution, and then the research was formed in accordance with their answers. When the literature is reviewed, it is seen a great number of studies had been made about the personality traits of public managers, their presented behaviors and reactions to different situations encountered, and the leadership traits presented in the dimension of the contemporary leadership approach. Nevertheless, it is the difference of this study from others to focus on the perception of manager's personal traits and the behaviors correspondingly in the eyes of his/her subordinates. Within this framework, five factor personality scales was used to assess the personality traits and manager behavior study of Ohio University was utilized to assess the behaviors. In this study, no significant correlations were found between the personality traits and the behaviors of the managers. However, it was determined that the occupational experience of both subordinate personnel and the managers influenced the subject matter behaviors. The research includes the conceptual framework, general assessment of the scale applied, assessment of the data obtained, assessment of the test results of the hypotheses and overall assessment of the study. Key Words: Leadership, leadership behavior, personality traits of managers.