Examining the impact of school administrators' dark leadership behaviors on teachers' organizational creativity

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of school administrators' dark leadership behaviors on teachers' organizational creativity levels based on teachers' perceptions. The study was conducted using the relational survey model, one of the quantitative research methods. The sample consisted of 393 teachers working in primary and lower secondary schools in the Ünye district of Ordu province who voluntarily participated in the survey. Data were collected digitally via Google Forms using the Personal Information Form, the Dark Leadership Scale (Özten, 2023), and the Organizational Creativity Scale (Balay, 2010). The analyses were performed using SPSS 25. According to the research findings, teachers' perceptions of school administrators' dark leadership behaviors were generally at a low level. Significant differences were found in relation to gender, school type, and educational status. Teachers working in lower secondary schools reported significantly higher mean scores in the subdimensions of derogatory, narcissistic, exploitative, and favoritistic leadership compared to teachers working in primary schools. Conversely, no significant differences were detected in terms of marital status, professional seniority, or administrative experience. Regarding teachers' organizational creativity levels, the findings indicated that teachers demonstrated a high level of organizational creativity. Male teachers scored higher than female teachers in the individual, managerial, and social subdimensions; however, these effect sizes were low. Significant differences were found for school type and administrative experience. Teachers working in primary schools scored significantly higher than those in lower secondary schools in the managerial and social subdimensions. No significant differences were found for marital status, educational status, or professional seniority. Finally, the regression analysis revealed that school administrators' dark leadership behaviors significantly predicted teachers' organizational creativity levels. The results showed that dark leadership behaviors negatively affected teachers' organizational creativity, and there was a statistically significant, negative, moderate correlation between dark leadership and organizational creativity. Dark leadership behaviors accounted for 15.1% of the variance in teachers' organizational creativity levels. The R² value of 0.22 indicated that dark leadership behaviors and demographic variables explained approximately one-fifth of the variance in organizational creativity, with the remaining portion likely attributable to organizational factors such as school climate, support systems, and motivation. Additionally, all subdimensions of dark leadership were found to be negatively and moderately correlated with the managerial and social subdimensions of organizational creativity. In light of these findings, in-service training programs for school administrators should prioritize ethical leadership, effective communication, and the development of a positive organizational culture. These programs should particularly focus on enhancing administrators' abilities to demonstrate empathy, provide constructive feedback, make fair decisions, and encourage teachers' ideas. The results further revealed that "derogatory behaviors" were the most detrimental leadership type to teachers' creativity. Therefore, efforts should be made to ensure that school administrators adopt a communication style that respects teachers' dignity, provides support, and avoids behaviors associated with mobbing or psychological harassment.