A comparative study of relationships between supervisory leadership styles and high school teachers' job satisfaction and commitment in China and the United States

Abstract

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Past research has indicated that lack of supervisory leadership reduces teachers' job satisfaction and commitment. This quantitative study examined and compared therelationships between principals' supervisory leadership styles and high school teachers job satisfaction and commitment in both China and the United States. The mail-in survey questionnaire included three measures, the Supervisory Behavior Description, the Teacher Job Satisfaction, and the Organizational Commitment, with a demographic form. This study found that the U.S. teachers had much higher levels of job satisfaction and commitment than the Chinese teachers. U.S. teachers perceived their principals as using more consideration leadership style while Chinese teachers perceived their principals as using more initiating structure leadership style. Positive relationships between the consideration leadership style and both job satisfaction and commitment and negative relationships between the initiating structure leadership style and both job satisfaction and commitment were found in both countries. Further, these relationships were found to be stronger among the Chinese teachers than the U.S. teachers. Findings may help administrators transform school supervisory leadership in order to improve teachers' job satisfaction and commitment and develop cross-cultural understanding of the influences of supervision on teachers' job satisfaction and commitment.