The Relationship between Personality Factors and Organizational Commitment of Iranian Primary School Principals

Abstract

This study was conducted with the aim to study the relationship between personality factors and organizational commitment among a group of Iranian primary school principals. The sample included all the 108 primary school principals of Ardabil, a northern city of Iran. The study drew on a descriptive correlational research design. The research instruments consisted of The Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF) and Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (Meyer & Alen, 1991).The data were analyzed through Pearson and Spearman correlations, Independent t-test and Mann-Whitney U-test. The results showed that there was a significant relationship between the personality factor of emotional stability and organizational commitment. In addition, there were negative significant relationships between the personality factors of self-assured, conservative and group-dependent and organizational commitment. However, no other personality factor was significantly correlated with organizational commitment. Moreover, no significant difference was found between male and female principals regarding their organizational commitment. As emotional stability was a significant predictor of organizational commitment and organizational commitment is associated with positive working outputs, it is highly suggested that organizations pay special attention to the personality features of the human resources for employment.