The current research aims to test the extent of the impact of participative leadership across its dimensions (delegation of authority, participation in decision-making, human relations, communication and information building) on enhancing the psychological hardiness of employees in the departments of the General Directorate of Education in Nineveh Governorate. Participatory leadership is one of the contemporary leadership styles that enhances employee confidence, encourages open communication and employee participation in decision-making, and contributes to creating a positive organizational environment, which motivates the researcher to suggest it to increase levels of psychological Hardiness. The impact of participatory leadership may help the presence of an internal psychological variable such as psychological Hardiness in strengthening the personal factors and psychological aspects of the individuals working in the researched directorate.
The research relied on the questionnaire as the main tool for data and information collection, and the researchers adopted the descriptive-analytical approach, which was used to support the conceptual frameworks of the research. The General Directorate of Nineveh Education was chosen as the field of study. The population consisted of (1530) employees, from which a random sample of (304) employees was selected.
The researchers sought to test hypotheses using a number of statistical methods, most notably: frequencies, percentages, arithmetic mean, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, relative importance, Pearson correlation coefficient, and confirmatory factor analysis, utilizing the statistical software programs (SPSS V27) and (AMOS V24). The researchers reached a number of results, most notably the existence of a statistically significant impact relationship between the independent variable (participative leadership) and the dependent variable (psychological hardiness). The research concluded with a number of suggestions, the most important of which is directing the directorate's attention towards the psychological resilience of employees, as it represents a positive motivating factor that improves their performance in the directorate..