Influence and Satisfaction in Organizations: A Replication

Several studies in industrial, sales, and voluntary organizations have demonstrated that an employee's satisfaction is related to his perception of the extent to which he can influence certain aspects of organizational decision-making as well as to the basis of his superior's social power. In this study we investigated the relationship between these variables in the context of the public schools. For this investigation, questionnaire data were collected from 325 primary school teachers who worked in 14 different school buildings, 7 buildings in each of the two participating school systems. These data, which are in full accord with the findings of previous studies, suggest that the effects of superior-subordinate relations in school systems are very much like those of various other organizations. Teachers report greatest satisfaction with their principal and the school system when they perceive that they and their principals are mutuially influential, especially when their principal's power to influence emanates from their perceiving him as an expert. This same principal-teacher relationship is associated with a perception of higher student satisfaction.