Examining the Relationship Between Self-awareness and Feedback : An Empirical Study of Managers in Sweden - Focusing on Women

Abstract: Background: Looking at previous studies, self-awareness, feedback, and female management is well researched. With self-awareness being a key trait to managerial effectiveness and feedback being a tool to increased self-awareness, the relationship between self-awareness and feedback is of research interest. That said, little is known about female managers in Sweden, hence the research will be focused on examining the relationship between self-awareness and feedback using managers in Sweden as empirical ground. To examine the topics, two research questions were formulated: (1) Is there a difference when it comes to the level of self-awareness between female and male managers in Sweden? and (2) Is there a relationship between self-awareness and feedback among managers in Sweden? Purpose: The purpose of the following research is to investigate the relationship between self-awareness and the use of feedback using managers in Sweden as an empirical ground to test this relationship. The scope of the research has been limited to researching the relationship among managers in Sweden, comparing the results of female managers to male managers, only examining the social phenomenon in an organisational context. Method: The research is quantitative, and a survey was distributed to the selected sample. The primary data retrieved was analysed using factor analysis and further investigating the relationship between the two factors of self-awareness and feedback by using a Pearson’s correlation analysis. Conclusion: The empirical findings of the thesis showed no difference in the level of self-awareness between male and female managers in Sweden. A reason for this could be the Swedish culture and environment. Furthermore, in contradiction to previous research, the female managers in Sweden demonstrated to be self-aware, again an indication of the Swedish culture. Lastly, no significant relationship between self-awareness and feedback was found.