A Research Synthesis of the Role of Individual Characteristics in Improving School Principals’ Self-Confidence
Keywords:
individual characteristics, self, confidence, School administratorsAbstract
Purpose: This study aimed to identify and explain the role of individual characteristics in improving school principals’ self-confidence and to develop an evidence-based conceptual model.
Methodology: This qualitative study employed a research-synthesis design and deductive content analysis. The research population comprised digital documents, journal articles, and theses published in Persian between 2015 and 2025 in the Iranian calendar-equivalent period and international English-language studies published from 2015 to 2025 in educational management and leadership. Relevant sources were retrieved from Civilica, IranDoc, Noormags, MagIran, the Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research, Google Scholar, Scopus, and ScienceDirect. Of the 83 initially identified records, 41 studies met the inclusion and quality criteria after duplicate, irrelevant, and methodologically inadequate publications were excluded. Study quality was assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme. Data were analyzed according to a six-stage research-synthesis framework through open, axial, and selective coding in MAXQDA 24. Inter-coder reliability was evaluated using the kappa agreement index.
Findings: The synthesis identified five overarching categories of individual characteristics associated with improved self-confidence among school principals: emotional intelligence, mental and personality characteristics, communication characteristics, physical and psychological capabilities, and self-development. Thirteen axial components were also extracted, including self-evaluation, self-awareness, positive thinking, moral characteristics, intellectual characteristics, personality patterns, intrapersonal communication, interpersonal communication, physical and mental health, body image, scientific competence, self-motivation, and goal orientation. Inter-coder agreement was within an acceptable-to-good range, supporting the reliability of the thematic categorization.
Conclusion: School principals’ self-confidence is a multidimensional construct formed through the interaction of emotional, cognitive, personality, communicative, physical, psychological, and professional capacities. Accordingly, leadership-development programs should simultaneously strengthen self-awareness, emotional regulation, communication competence, psychological well-being, continuous learning, self-motivation, and professional goal orientation.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Hadi Mansori Fard (Author); Nader Barzegar; Nahid Shafiee (Author)
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