Date of Graduation
1990
Document Type
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the perceived locus of control and job satisfaction of Appalachian school principals in the states of West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee. The total population for the study was 2,649 principals. The sample utilized in this study consisted of 333 principals. Each participant was mailed a survey packet containing a cover letter, a demographics sheet, and two questionnaires. The questionnaires used were the Adult Nowicki-Strickland I-E Scale (Nowicki & Duke, 1974) and the Mohrman-Cooke-Mohrman Job Satisfaction Scales (Mohrman, Cooke, Mohrman, Duncan & Zaltman, 1977). The total return rate was 240 (72%). The total usable return was 236 (71%). The data were analyzed using the Statistical Analysis Systems. Analyses of Variance were utilized to test the hypotheses. An alpha level of 0.05 was used to determine significance. Analyses of the data resulted in the following findings. Principals in the Appalachian counties of West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee who had an internal locus of control had significantly higher intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction than those principals who had an external locus of control. This substantiates the previous findings of Farkas (1983) and Richford & Fortune (1984). Ancillary findings of the study indicated that female principals had higher levels of intrinsic job satisfaction than males. An additional ancillary finding of the study was that the principals of the Appalachian counties of Virginia had significantly higher levels of extrinsic job satisfaction than the principals of West Virginia. A final ancillary finding of the study was that those principals of the study who made {dollar}40,000, or greater, annually had significantly higher levels of extrinsic job satisfaction than those principals who made \\{dollar}25,000-{dollar}29,000 annually, and those principals who made \\{dollar}30,000-{dollar}34,999 annually. This study would seem to indicate that Appalachian principals are similar to other school principals in the United States of America. If they have an internal locus of control, they have higher levels of job satisfaction than principals with an external locus of control.
Recommended Citation
Proffit, Alvin Claude, "The relationship between locus of control and job satisfaction of Appalachian principals." (1990). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 9602.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/9602