Locus of Control as an Indicator of Hong Kong Teachers' Job Attitudes and Perceptions of Organizational Characteristics

Abstract

This study investigated how teachers' locus of control is related to multiple aspects of job attitudes and perceptions of a school's organizational characteristics in a sample of 588 teachers in 54 secondary schools in Hong Kong. The findings were surprisingly consistent with those about populations in Western societies. Locus of control seems to be a powerful indicator of teachers' job attitudes and organizational perceptions. Teachers with a belief in internal control tend to have a more positive job attitude in terms of organizational commitment, intrinsic satisfaction, extrinsic satisfaction, social satisfaction, influence satisfaction, role clarity, and feeling of job challenge. They also tend to have more positive perceptions of the school organization in terms of principal's leadership, organizational structure, teachers' social norms, and organizational culture and effectiveness.