A Comparative Analysis of Transformational, Transactional, and Participative Leadership Style Preferences in Saudi Healthcare

Abstract

This study aimed to compare transformational, transactional, and participative leadership styles among healthcare employees in selected hospitals in Mecca and Madina, Saudi Arabia. A quantitative, cross-sectional research design was employed using a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire measured the three leadership styles through 15 items using a five-point Likert scale, with five items representing each leadership style. Data were collected from 200 respondents and analysed using descriptive statistics and a one-way repeated-measures analysis of variance. The results showed that transformational leadership recorded the highest mean score (M= 3.920, SD = 1.050), followed by transactional leadership (M = 3.904, SD = 1.053) and participative leadership (M= 3.889, SD = 1.087). However, the repeated-measures ANOVA indicated that the differences among the three leadership styles were not statistically significant, F (1.824, 362.878) = 0.509, p = .585, partial η² = .003. These findings suggest that respondents perceived the three leadership styles at broadly similar levels. Although transformational leadership had the highest descriptive mean, it was not significantly different from transactional or participative leadership. The findings highlight the importance of considering the three leadership styles as complementary approaches within healthcare organisations.