This dissertation contributed to the ongoing research surrounding the leadership practices of college student leaders and the variables that contribute to these practices. Data for this research was collected at four private, protestant Christian universities in the Midwest. The dependent variable used in this research was the leadership practices of college student leaders. The data for this variable was collected using Kouzes and Posner's (2006) Student Leadership Practices Inventory (S-LPI). This self-assessment determined the level of individual leadership engagement within five leadership practices: Modeling the Way (MTW), Inspiring a Shared Vision (ISV), Challenging the Process (CTP), Enabling Others to Act (EOA), and Encouraging the Heart (ETH). In addition to the dependent variable, two independent variables were used. The first of these variables was spiritual well-being, using Ellison and Paloutzian's (1982) Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS). The composite score was a compilation of two scores that examined what the authors call the existential well-being (EWB) and the religious well-being (RWB) of the individual. The second independent variable used in this research was gender, placing the participants into two groups, male and female. Groups were determined by a self-report demographic sheet distributed at the time the participants received and completed the S-LPI and SWBS assessments. A positive correlation between each of the five components of the Student Leadership Practices Inventory and the composite score of the Spiritual Well-Being Scale was discovered. This discovery provides evidence that spiritual well-being influences the leadership practices of college student leaders.

An independent-samples t-test was calculated examining the mean scores of participants who identified themselves as male to the mean scores of participants who identified themselves as female for each of the five components of the S-LPI, and a significant difference was discovered, with females scoring significantly higher than male participants within all five components. A more thorough examination will provide opportunity for colleges and universities to review their current leadership development programming, both curricular and co-curricular, for opportunities to enhance student leadership development.