ABSTRACT
The rise of identity theory provides an opportunity for scholars to understand and explain leaders’ behaviour from a new angle, emphasising the importance of positive identity as leaders. Scholars argue that leaders with positive identity are more energetic and work more wholeheartedly as their identity as leaders fits with other facets of their identities. Research has just begun to understand the factors affecting positive identity as leaders. Some argue that personality traits matter, while others are convinced that gender, male or female, is the key determinant to shaping positive identity as leaders. Based on the assumption that (Indonesian) society tends to picture the female primary role as that of mother and submissive wife, and not as leader, these scholars maintain that female leaders may be limited in building positive identity as leaders. To investigate this matter further, data was gathered from 315 people in two big cities in Indonesia: Jakarta and Denpasar. Analysis reveals that positive identity as leaders is associated with traits, especially extraversion (β = 0.29, p < 0.05) and conscientiousness (β = 0.33, p < 0.05), but not with gender (β = −0.07, p > 0.05), nor with neuroticism (β = −0.06, p > 0.05). These results shed new and promising light on the understanding of leadership behaviour in Indonesia. It demonstrates that, at least in big and multicultural cities in Indonesia, leaders are not trapped by their gender in developing their identity. Instead, their positive identity as leaders is associated with their traits, suggesting a new page of leadership in Indonesia: more egalitarian gender-roles, especially in leadership. It would be interesting to investigate whether the same pattern occurs in smaller cities in Indonesia, and in other parts of the world.
