A study was undertaken to identify personal characteristics which distinguished nurses who were functioning at different occupational levels. The personal characteristics selected as variables were: achievement motivation, job involvement, leadership style, sex-role identification, age, and education. The occupational levels selected were: nurses in middle management, first-line management, and non-management positions.

Five hundred sixteen professional registered nurses in two community hospitals in a major metropolitan area completed a self-administered questionnaire. A discriminant analysis was used to test the hypothesis of the study and identify which variables were the best discriminators. Two significant discriminant functions were identified which explained 15% of the variance between the groups.

The results indicated that nurses who were functioning in management positions saw themselves as more structured and ascribing to characteristics which were more like those of managers and men in our society than did the nurses in a non-management position. The nurse managers also perceived themselves as lower in consideration and the characteristics that were more like those of managers and women in our society.

Implications of the findings are discussed and further research is recommended.