JOB SATISFACTION AND CENTRAL LIFE INTERESTS AMONG EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATORS (SUPERINTENDENTS, PRINCIPALS, WORK ATTACHMENTS

The purpose of the study was to identify work-oriented central life interests and job satisfaction levels among educational administrators in the Greater Southwest Desert Region of the United States. Four educational administrator job classifications were considered: superintendents, associate/assistant superintendents, principals, and assistant principals.;A survey instrument consisting of the Central Life Interest questionnaire and the Job Descriptive Index was sent to a random sample of 280 educational administrators. Responses were obtained from 238 individuals or 85 percent of the sample. The collected data were analyzed to determine if respondents were work-oriented in their central life interests and to identify job satisfaction levels within and across six factors: the job-in-general, the work itself, co-workers, supervision, pay, and opportunities for promotion.;Respondents from each job classification were not significantly different regarding their levels of job satisfaction with the following exceptions: (1) associate/assistant superintendents were more satisfied with their pay than were either principals or assistant principals; and (2) assistant principals were more satisfied with their supervision than were principals.;The vast majority of superintendents, associate/assistant superintendents, principals, and assistant principals did not have work-oriented central life interest. There also were not significant differences in job satisfaction levels among work-oriented and nonwork-oriented educational administrators, with one exception: work-oriented assistant principals were more satisfied with their opportunities for promotion than were their non work-oriented counterparts.;Two important conclusions, which differed from much of the previous research on job satisfaction and central life interests, were drawn from this study: (1) climbing the administrative ladder from assistant principal to superintendent is not directly related to achieving high levels of job satisfaction; and (2) work-oriented educational administrators are not necessarily more satisfied with their jobs than are their non work-oriented colleagues.;The contradiction in findings between this study and previous research regarding the job satisfaction/central life interests relationship suggests that the linkage between these two variables may vary according to the work setting and job classification under consideration.