NCJ Number
69481
Date Published
1979
Length
548 pages
Annotation
THIS STUDY FORMULATES AND TESTS A CAUSAL MODEL OF JOB ATTITUDES AND INVESTIGATES RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SIGNIFICANT DETERMINANTS AND JOB SATISFACTION LEVELS OF POLICE OFFICERS IN THAILAND.
Abstract
THIS STUDY REPRESENTS AN EFFORT TO APPLY THE THEORY OF JOB SATISFACTION, ORIGINATED IN WESTERN COUNTRIES, TO AN EASTERN COUNTRY LIKE THAILAND. ATTITUDE DETERMINANTS WERE CLASSIFIED INTO THREE CLUSTERS: BACKGROUND CHARACTERISTICS, CLIMATE PERCEPTIONS, AND WORKING PERSONALITIES. A SAMPLE OF 501 NONCOMMISSIONED POLICE OFFICERS AT THE OPERATIONAL LEVEL OF THE BANGKOK AND THONBURI METROPOLITAN POLICE BUREAU WERE RANDOMLY SELECTED THROUGH A PROPORTIONATE STRATIFIED SAMPLING TECHNIQUE. SIX EXISTING SCALES, CONSTRUCTED IN THE U.S., BUT TRANSLATED INTO THAI AND ADAPTED TO FIT THAI CULTURE AND THE THAI POLICE TRADITION AND SYSTEM, WERE ADMINISTERED TO THE RESPONDENTS IN QUESTIONNAIRE AND INTERVIEW FORM. THE SELECTED MEASURES INCLUDED THE ALIENATION SCALE, THE CLIMATE DESCRIPTION SCALE, THE CYNICISM SCALE, THE DOGMATISM SCALE, THE JOB SATISFACTION INDEX, AND THE JOB DESCRIPTION INDEX. RECURSIVE PATH ANALYSIS REVEALED THAT OVERALL JOB SATISFACTION IS IMPACTED BY THE FOLLOWING VARIABLES: SENSE OF IDENTITY WITH THE ORGANIZATION, ORGANIZATIONAL WARMTH, PERCEIVED ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE, ALIENATION, CYNICISM, AND EDUCATION. IN EXAMINING THE LINKS BETWEEN DETERMINANTS, IT WAS FOUND THAT STRUCTURE HAD THE GREATEST EFFECT ON ALIENATION AND CYNICISM, I.E. CONSTRUCTIVE ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATES TEND TO LESSEN NEGATIVE ATTITUDES. THROUGH MULTIVARIATE REGRESSION ANALYSIS OF FIVE DETERMINANTS OF JOB SATISFACTION AGAINST FIVE DIMENSIONS OF JOB ATTITUDES, SATISFACTION WITH SALARY WAS FOUND TO BE LEAST AFFECTED BY THE TOTAL SET OF FIVE DEPENDENT VARIABLES; IN CONTRAST, SATISFACTION WITH SUPERVISION WAS MOST INFLUENCED BY THEM. WHILE CLIMATE VARIABLES HAD THE STRONGEST INFLUENCE ON SATISFACTION WITH COLLEAGUES, PERSONALITY VARIABLES IMPACTED SATISFACTION WITH PROMOTIONS. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT WHEN A POLICE OFFICER TOOK DEEP PRIDE IN THE WARMTH OF HIS ORGANIZATION, THIS IN TURN, HAD A STRONG EFFECT ON HIS SATISFACTION WITH WORK, SUPERVISION, AND COLLEAGUES. IMPLICATIONS OF THIS STUDY POINT TO NEW LEADERSHIP APPROACHES, AN EMPHASIS ON THE HUMAN RELATIONS ASPECTS OF POLICE ORGANIZATION, AND A LOOSENING OF THE RIGIDLY MILITARISTIC TRADITIONS OF THE THAI POLICE. TABULAR DATA AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY ARE PROVIDED ALONG WITH CHARTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. APPENDED ARE STUDY INSTRUMENTS IN BOTH THAI AND ENGLISH AND A VITA OF THE AUTHOR.