PERCEIVED LEADER BEHAVIOR, INDIVIDUAL DOGMATISM AND JOB SATISFACTION

Abstract

The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether or not a relationship existed between the perceptions of leader behavior, individual staff dogmatism and job satisfaction of the Committees on the Handicapped professional staff employed in the New York City Public Schools. The population for this study consisted of the psychologists, social workers and teachers who were employed on a full-time basis for the Committee. The total sample size was ninety-four.;Three instruments were administered to obtain the data for this investigation. The Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire (LBDQ) provided the scores for initiation of structure and consideration. The Rokeach Dogmatism Scale enabled the investigator to classify the subjects as either high or low dogmatics. The Brayfield-Rothe Index of Job Satisfaction was used as a measure of job satisfaction.;The data for this study were analyzed by testing four hypotheses. Two of the hypotheses examined the relationship between perceived leader behavior, individual staff dogmatism and the level of job satisfaction. Two of the hypotheses examined the relationship between perceived leader behavior and the level of job satisfaction. The study also examined the level of job satisfaction as it related to the profession, age and sex of the staff. The hypotheses were tested by using the Kruskal-Wallis One Way Analysis of Variance for ranked scores. All four hypotheses were tested for significance at the .05 level of confidence. The results of the study indicated the following conclusions appeared warranted: (1)There was no significant relationship between the individual dogmatism level of the staff and the degree of job satisfaction they experienced. It appeared that other factors either personal or environmental were influencing the perceptions of leader behavior. (2)The perception of leader behavior characterized by high consideration was significantly related to the level of job satisfaction experienced by the staff regardless of the leader's tendency to initiate structure. (3)The age and sex of the staff were not significantly related to the level of job satisfaction they experienced. (4)The difference in the level of job satisfaction was significant when teachers were compared to social workers but not when psychologists were compared to teachers or social workers. Teachers appeared to be more satisfied than social workers and it was speculated that the difference in the level of job satisfaction may be related to the nature of graduate program expectations.;Recommendations for future research included the need to study different populations, the need to implement team building strategies to improve the Committees on the Handicapped, the need to study interpersonal relationships on teams to assess their impact on perceptions of leader behavior and personal characteristics of the chairperson as they might relate to perceptions of leader behavior. The implications of the study were also presented with suggestions for improving the functioning of the interdisciplinary team in special education.