Relationships between teacher organizational commitment, psychological hardiness and some demographic variables in Turkish primary schools
| Date | 14 August 2009 |
| Pages | 630-651 |
| Published date | 14 August 2009 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/09578230910981099 |
| Author | Ferudun Sezgin |
| Subject Matter | Education |
Relationships between teacher
organizational commitment,
psychological hardiness and some
demographic variables in Turkish
primary schools
Ferudun Sezgin
Department of Educational Sciences, Gazi Faculty of Education,
Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between teachers’ organizational
commitment perceptions and both their psychological hardiness and some demographic variables in a
sample of Turkish primary schools.
Design/methodology/approach – A total of 405 randomly selected teachers working at primary
schools in Ankara participated in the study. Personal Views Survey III-R and the Organizational
Commitment Scale were used to gather data.
Findings – This paper supports the argument that psychological hardiness is a meaningful
construct predicting the perceptions of primary school teachers on organizational commitment.
Results reveal that psychological hardiness is positively and significantly related to both
identification and internalization components of teacher commitment, whereas it is negatively and
significantly correlated to the commitment predicated on compliance. Teacher compliance
commitment is negatively associated with both identification and internalization. Although gender
and years of experience are significant predictors of identification and internalization, the variables
of subject specialization and age did not significantly predict all three subscales of teacher
commitment.
Originality/value – This paper represents a different approach to organizational commitment by
examining teacher commitment under three components – compliance, identification, and
internalization. This paper also explores the relationships between organizational commitment
and teacher psychological hardiness which is a personality style reducing the negative effects of
stress. Results from this study are discussed in relation to practical implications in school
settings.
Keywords Teachers, Psychology(motivation), Primary schools,Job satisfaction, Turkey
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
The main factor leading to organizational success is the quality of human resources
(Pohlman and Gardiner, 2000). This phenomenon is especially valid for schools which
are the core of education. In order for schools to be effective, teachers, a fundamental
element of the educational system, have many important tasks and responsibilities
(C¸alık, 2003; Owens, 1991; O
¨zdemir, 2000; Rich, 1992). The improvement of school and
successful implementation of innovations in education depend largely on teachers
who are primarily responsible for the educational activities in their schools. For that
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0957-8234.htm
JEA
47,5
630
Received April 2008
Revised June 2008
Accepted August 2008
Journal of Educational
Administration
Vol. 47 No. 5, 2009
pp. 630-651
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0957-8234
DOI 10.1108/09578230910981099
reason, more comprehensive attention should be given to the understanding of
teachers’ behaviors and performance within the organizational environment of schools
(Tsui and Cheng, 1999). Organizational commitment, a widely studied topic in the field
of organizational behavior, has been investigated in several studies as a variable
related to the behaviors and performance of employees (Allen and Meyer, 1990, 1996;
Balay, 2000a; Finegan, 2000; Geijsel et al., 2003; O’Reilly III and Chatman, 1986;
Park et al., 2005; Tarter et al., 1990; Yu et al., 2002) including teachers who are the main
subjects of the present study. In this regard, this study, set in Turkish primary schools,
aims at investigating the relationships between teacher organizational commitment
and both psychological hardiness and some demographic variables.
Organizational commitment can be defined as a strong belief in and acceptance of
the organizational goals and valu es, willingness to exert considera ble effort
on behalf of the organization, and a definite desire to maintain organizational
membership (Porter et al., 1974). Three essential factors pertaining to the definitions of
organizational commitment emerge from the literature:
(1) a strong belief in organizational goals and values;
(2) willingness to exert one’s self on behalf of these goals and values; and
(3) a strong desire to continue working for the organization (Allen and Meyer,
1990; Morrow, 1983; Mowday et al., 1979; Newstrom and Davis, 1997;
O’Reilly III and Chatman, 1986; Porter et al., 1974; Robbins and Coulter,
2003).
From this point of view, Tsui and Cheng (1999) summarized teacher organizational
commitment as:
(1) a strong belief in and acceptance of the school’s goals and values;
(2) a willingness to exert considerable effort on behalf of the school; and
(3) a strong desire to maintain one’s membership within the school.
There are three types of commitment – affective, continuance, and normativ e
(Allen and Meyer, 1990, 1996; Boehman, 2006; Canipe, 2006; Greenberg, 2005; Karrasch,
2003; Turner and Chelladurai, 2005). Commitment refers to the employee’s emotional
attachment to, identification with, and involvement in the organization. Employees
with strong affective commitment keep working for the organization voluntarily and
eagerly. Continuance commitment refers to an individual’s awareness of the costs of
leaving the organization. Employees with a high level of continuance commitment
remain a member of the organization because of a need to do so. Normative
commitment describes a feeling of obligation to stay employed in the organization.
Employees high in normative commitment feel that they ought to maintain
membership in the organization, sometimes due to the pressures from other employees
(Allen and Meyer, 1990, 1996; Balay, 2000a).
Organizational commitment has also been defined by Kelman (1958) as
three-dimensional – compliance, identification, and internalization and referred to as
such in other studies (Balay, 2000a, b; Balcı, 2000; Becker et al., 1996; Brockner et al.,
1992; Kelman, 1958; O’Reilly III and Chatman, 1986; Newton and Shore, 1992; Wiener,
1982). In an investigation of the attitude change, Kelman (1958) argued for three
conceptually different ways of considering the process:
Teacher
organizational
commitment
631
To continue reading
Request your trial