The Sense of Control and the Position of the Worker in His Organization

The problem discussed in the paper derives from cognitive psychology in which a motivational function is ascribed to processes of cognition, and especially to convictions about the possibilities of controlling own behavior or the environment. In the years 1982-1984 the author carried out a research- on the sense of control in three places of employment: an industrial plant (300 persons), a research institute (300 persons) and among design engineers (380 persons). The objective of the fragment of research presented in this paper was to provide an answer to the question: Does the situation of a worker in his organization correspond to his specific way of perceiving his freedom to act? The sense of control was measured by means of four psychological variables: the situational sense of control, the generalized sense of control, the desire for control and the aspiration for success as a proof of possessed control. In order to measure these variables the author devised special scales including the scale "I-E in Work" measuring the sense of the locus of control with satisfactory parameters of reliability and internal agreement. The position of workers in their organization was determined by two factors: their place in the ranking system and their affiliation to groups performing functions at various levels of difficulty. The results exhibit an essential correlation between the psychological variables. Since the variables constitute different aspects of the sense of control one may say that it increases with the rise in position occupied and functions performed by the workers. This result, obtained mainly among research workers and designers ought to be confirmed for other groups of workers.Zadanie pt. „Digitalizacja i udostępnienie w Cyfrowym Repozytorium Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego kolekcji czasopism naukowych wydawanych przez Uniwersytet Łódzki” nr 885/P-DUN/2014 dofinansowane zostało ze środków MNiSW w ramach działalności upowszechniającej naukę