Faculty Trust in the Principal and Organizational Commitment

• In Event: 65.022 - Leveling the Playing Field: Leadership Practices, School Climate, and Student Achievement in Northwestern Alabama

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship exists between faculty trust in the principal and organizational commitment. Also, the study attempted to find out whether Meyer and Allen’s (1991) three component model of organizational commitment is a more significant predictor of faculty trust in the principal than Mowday et al.’s (1979) model of organizational commitment.

Theoretical Framework: Several studies have provided a theoretical framework linking trust and organizational commitment. Trust in management and trust in supervisors has been related to commitment (Mahan, Bishop & Scott, 2012). Some studies (Cho & Park, 2011) found that trust was related to organizational commitment. There was also a significant relationship found linking trust with organizational commitment in schools (Yilmaz, 2008).

Methods of Inquiry: The research conducted used three instruments. The Omnibus T-Scale (Hoy and Tschannen-Moran, 1999) was used to collect information on faculty trust. The Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ) and the Three Component Model (TCM) Employee Commitment Survey was used to test the organizational commitment within the schools. The surveys were distributed in regularly scheduled faculty meetings.

Data Sources: Sixty Northwest Alabama elementary schools were surveyed to test the relationship of faculty trust to teachers’ organizational commitment to the school. The independent variable in this study was faculty trust in the principal (y) as measured by the Omnibus T-Scale. The dependent variables were organizational commitment as measured by (x1) OCQ, and (x2) TCM Employee Commitment Survey. Socioeconomic status (SES) was used as a control variable. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the sample. Inferential statistics tested the hypotheses of the study.

Results: There was a moderate and significant relationship between trust in the principal and OCQ (r =.45, p < .01). Also, trust in the principal and TCM were moderately correlated (r =.43, p < .01). Finally, OCQ and TCM were moderately correlated (r =.34, p <.01). Socio-economic status did not have a significant relationship with any of the variables in this study. While both TCM and OCQ were moderate predictors of faculty trust in the principal, TCM had a slightly lower correlation with faculty trust. OCQ had a significant effect on trust in the principal (β = .47, p < .01) which was only slightly more significant than the effect TCM had on faculty trust in the principal (β = .44, p < .01).

Scholarly Significance: The scholarly significance of this work is that faculty trust in the principal and organizational commitment are moderately correlated. As faculty trust in the principal increases there was a moderate increase in teacher’s commitment to the school in the schools in this study. Finally, this study revealed there was no significant difference between OCQ and TCM in their relationship with faculty trust in the principal.

Author

• Les Abston, Lauderdale County Board of Education