| dc.description.abstract | Empirical data indicates that work satisfaction has an effect on work attendance, decisions regarding retirement, general behavioural syndromes indicating a positive organizational orientation, attempts to influence work situations by means of trade union activities as well as psychological withdrawal. In the past work satisfaction has been coupled with individual, group and organizational factors. Increasing attention is currently paid to the hypothesis that factors within the individual (dispositional factors) rather than merely the characteristics of the position, affect individuals' work satisfaction. If locus of control does indeed show a relationship with work satisfaction, it could be of significant value for any organization, especially with regard to the selection and development of personnel. Die objectives of this research are to determine whether there is a connection between locus of control and work satisfaction. The literature study focussed on conteptualizing work satisfaction and the relationship thereof with locus of control. A survey design (correlation design) was used to test the hypotheses of the research. Each individual in the subject group was tested on two variables simultaneously and the connection between the measurements that were obtained, was established. The survey group consisted of 101 senior police personnel of the South African Police Service (SAPD) in the Marico area. An availability sample was used. Two questionnaires were used in this research, namely the Locus of Control Questionnaire (LCQ) and the Minnesota Job Satisfaction Index (Weiss et al., 1976). Statistical analyses were done by means of the SAS programme. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, product moment correlations, multiple correlations and canonical correlations were used to analyze information. With regard to the level of satisfaction of senior police personnel, they indicated dissatisfaction with regard to the remuneration that they receive, as well as physical working conditions, opportunities for promotion, acknowledgement, social status, supervision-human, as well as supervision-technical. More work satisfaction is experienced with regard to performance, authority, independence and responsibility. The results of the empirical survey indicate that there is a moderately negative relationship between the external locus of control and work satisfaction of senior police personnel. The canonical correlations indicate that there is a practically significant connection (large effect) between locus of control and work satisfaction. | |
