The purpose of this study was to identify areas of job stress experienced by public school principals, and elements of the work environment and personal coping mechanisms used to alleviate that stress. Specifically, the study sought to identify sources of job stress as defined by role overload, role insufficiency, role ambiguity, role boundary, responsibility, and physical environment. It further sought to determine the relationship between elements of the work environment as defined by involvement, peer cohesion, supervisor support, autonomy, task orientation, work pressure, clarity, control, innovation and physical comfort and the stress experienced by principals. Finally, it sought to identify effective personal coping resources as defined by cognitive, social, emotional, spiritual/philosophical, or physical.The study population included 124 Indiana public school principals new in their assignments during the 1995-1996 school year. The subgroups of the population were: principals with no previous principalship experience and principals with prior principalship experiences. No other demographic data were included. Three standard instruments were used to gather data. The Occupational Roles Questionnaire (ORQ), a subtest of the Occupational Stress Inventory (OSI) developed by Osipow and Spokane in 1981, identified sources of stress. The Work Environment Scale (WES), developed by Moos in 1981, assessed the work element. The Coping Resources Inventory, developed by Hammer and Marting in 1987, identified personal coping resources effective with new principals.The study found that all principals experienced the greatest amount of stress from role overload and the least amount of stress from challenging physical conditions. However, the levels of stress experienced were not significantly above the level of stress identified by the normative population.The study also found that principals with no previous principalship experience utilized different elements of the work environment to reduce stress than did experienced principals. Non-experienced principals utilized supervisor support, task orientation, and innovation to relieve stress. Experienced principals reported reduced stress from involvement, peer cohesion, and physical comfort.Finally, the study found that principals with no previous principalship experience used different personal coping resources than did experienced principals. Non-experienced principals relieved stress through expression of emotion, cognition, spiritual/philosophical, and physical. Experienced principals reported no significant use of either spiritual/philosophical or physical coping resources. / Department of Educational Leadership
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/177751 |
| Date | January 2000 |
| Creators | Lindquist, Carolyn Young |
| Contributors | Kowalski, Theodore J. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | xiv, 150 leaves : facsims. ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
| Coverage | n-us-in |
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