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ROLE CONFLICT, ROLE AMBIGUITY, AND JOB SATISFACTION: A STUDY OF MIDDLE MANAGEMENT POSITIONS IN AN EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATION
Abstract
The purpose in this study was to examine the relationships of role ambiguity and role conflict to job satisfaction among individuals employed as school principals and subject area consultants. Research questions addressed (1) differences between the levels of role ambiguity, role conflict, and job satisfaction for principals and consultants, (2) relationships between role perceptions and job satisfaction, and (3) differences in the role perception-job satisfaction relationships for the two groups. Findings from a review of literature indicated that multiple interrelated factors in the formal structure and the social relationships in a complex organization determine the way in which one perceives his or her role and subsequently behaves. Acute role conflict and role ambiguity were shown to have a negative impact on both the individual and the organization. Studies focused on personal outcomes of role conflict and role ambiguity have yielded conflicting results regarding the relationship of these perceptions to job satisfaction. Few studies of these relationships have been conducted in educational organizations. No studies were found which compared line and staff managers from the same formal organization. The population in this study was the principals and subject area consultants in the Lincoln Public Schools (Lincoln, Nebraska). They were identified respectively as line and staff middle managers with responsibilities in the areas of curriculum and instruction. Data were gathered using the Rizzo, House, and Lirtzman scales of role ambiguity and role conflict and the Bullock Job Satisfaction Scale. The research questions were divided into three categories for analysis of the data. For the first category a t-test was used to examine differences between consultants and principals in their perceptions of role ambiguity, role conflict, and job satisfaction. Results indicated that consultants perceived significantly higher levels of role conflict and role ambiguity in their jobs as leaders in the areas of instruction and curriculum than did principals. No significant differences were found between the levels of job satisfaction expressed by the two groups. For the second category of research questions, the significance of relationships between the role perceptions and levels of job satisfaction was examined for each group. Pearson product-moment correlations showed significant negative correlations for both principals and consultants between the two role perception factors and job satisfaction. For the final category of research questions, a Fisher's z transformation was used to yield data comparable as normal curve deviates. No significant differences were found between the role conflict-job satisfaction or the role ambiguity-job satisfaction relationships for principals as compared to consultants.
Subject Area
School administration
Recommended Citation
BRAUER, MARY ALICE, "ROLE CONFLICT, ROLE AMBIGUITY, AND JOB SATISFACTION: A STUDY OF MIDDLE MANAGEMENT POSITIONS IN AN EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATION" (1980). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI8100418.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI8100418