Relation of autognosis of
managers with their performances in governmental schools of
Gholamhosein Hairdari, Ph.D.,
Faculty Member of Roude Hen
Branch of Islamic
Batoul Hamedi,
Post Gradaute Student
Studying for Ph.D. Degree in Consultation.
The aim of present
research was studying the relation of managers’ Autognosis (Self-Knowledge)
with their performances. The statistical universe was consisted of all
principals of the governmental high schools of
The growth and
development of education systems is the obvious feature of the present-day societies.
In recent decades, especially in developing countries this has turned into an
important issue. The consequence of this ever-increasing growth is that the
education system has changed into a giant and all-embracing organization which
deals with great number of students, fulfills different and versatile duties,
employs many teachers and staff members having different degrees and skills, spends
big financial and material resources, and generally speaking, yields
far-reaching effects and results. Undoubtedly, smooth running of such an
organization deeply depends on rational and sophisticated planning and fixing
the aims. Effectiveness of its sensitive and important activities and services
demands effective leadership and management. Education system is general
pattern of official institutions, entities, and organizations of the society
and assumes responsibility of achieving multiple aims, transfer of cultural
heritage, cultural flourish, all-embracing training of individuals and human
force. The complex processes which lad to achievement of these aims are called
with different titles such as training, education, teaching, and learning (Persuasion
and Arabi, 1993).
In the meanwhile,
educational management is more important than other branches of management
which they too are valuable and important in their own place. Educational
management is more important because fulfills the duty of creating educated and
specialist human force, and this critical duty may not be fulfilled by other
organizations and institutions (Parhizgar, 1998).
Considering the
importance of management especially educational management, any individual
manager must be cognitive of their organization and work environment as well as
of their own talents and capabilities. It is beyond any doubt that if a
principal knows himself and is aware of his own abilities, weaknesses, and
strong points, he may have more desired performance in his educational organization
and will move toward very perfection of desirables to a considerable degree
because the dynamism, development, and progress of any organization depend on
the policy and performance of the management of that organization. It seems
that several factors affect the performance of the managers. Among these
factors, autognosis (self-knowledge), self-confidence, perseverance, awareness,
expertise, experience, and … may be named. Management creates an atmosphere which
stimulates and encourages changes, adjustment, flourish of individual and
organization. On the other side, the management may create an atmosphere which
prevents changing and adjustment and acts as a dam against flourish of the
individual and organization (Jafari, 1992).
The versatility and
complexity of the duties and functions of educational managers are such that
permit only the experienced, professional, trained, and self-disciplined persons
to have high-quality performance. A manager who knows himself controls himself,
his wishes, and his behaviour to a considerably high degree. He is able to
establish suitable relations with environment and others. On the other side,
how a manager who does not know himself and his unique features can introduce
himself to others (Mirkamali, 2000).
In talking about
management on oneself and self-command, the thinkers of management use titles
such as internal management, self management, personal management, personal
development management, and self-leadership and have assumed judgemental
approaches. Some have focused on external aspects of “ego” such as “behaviour”
and some others have focused on internal aspect of “ego” such as “thoughts” and
“feelings”. Third group concentrate on internal and external aspects of individual
such as physical, sensational, emotional, mental, and cognitive dimensions.
Still some other have seen entire existence and living dimensions of individual
as an integrated system and have put it in focus of their attention. Self-management
is the best approach for enabling the managers and human force sources. Accepting
responsibility demands the capability proportionate to that responsibility. On
the other hand, the capability and merit of persons are function of their
degree of success in self-management because self-management is a key to
realization of internal power and optimum use of that power which results in
promotion of efficiency of human force and using internal forces. Taking
benefit from all physical, mental, and psychological forces of man will fruit
success in beyond-the-self arena. Man has immense unknown forces in depth of
his entity. The magnitude and strength of these unknown forces equals with, or
even is greater than, the magnitude of the universe and its phenomena. However,
only a very few number of people know the immense potential power of their
inside and use it. N case of almost all individuals, in the course of time,
their last day arrives while their internal sources have remained unknown and
virgin, or in other words, their immense internal powers are destroyed and
wasted. (Micheal et al, 2001).
In ancient world, man
applied all their attention to anthropology and studying the social problems of
man. On those days, science and art had been in zenith of flourish, perfect,
and life. The history of endeavour toward realization of oneself goes back to
long long ago and may be seen in remarks of Socrates in saying like “know
thyself” (Bahari, 1986).
In psychological
literature of today, the word “ego” is repeated in different contents and
shapes. In other words, one mat say that the concept of “ego” is one of the
important and essential objects of the science of psychology. This concept is
so important that the personality psychologists, social psychologists, and
developmental psychologists have oriented their researches to that concept
extensively (Shaarinezhad, 1992).
Joseph Billy (2003)
defines autognosis as the mental perception of the person including his own
image, personality, and being confident on his own capabilities. He quotes from
psychologists that autognosis is the mental image of person and combination of
feelings, wishes, and experiences of the individual. To a considerably high
degree, autognosis is determiner of the behavioural route of individual. Autognosis
is the judgement of an individual about grounds of success, values,
capabilities, and the weight and importance of the person. Answer to questions
such as “Am I a successful man in my life ?” and “Am I able to complete the
task successfully?” are indicator of the type of self-conception of the
individual. Judgment of an individual about himself also affects his behavior
and his route of life.
Karl Rogers defines
“ego” as follows: “The almost permanent image a man has about the value of himself
and the relation of this value with his real self.” (Daryaye La’l, 2001).
For a person who has
innate self-love, it is natural to pay attention to himself and intends to know
his perfects and ways to achieve perfection. Commitment to oneself is base of
all other commitments. Commitment to oneself does not originate from
selfishness and hedonism but originates from feeling personal values and is
based on potential usefulness and real and social successes. This sense of
self-respect shall not be identified with macromania, narcissism or false pride
because self-respect is not separating oneself from others but it is specified
awareness of one’s real capabilities. This self-respect demands willingness to
offer one’s real entity and is an attempt to minimize the difference between
what is appeared in our behaviour and what we really believe in, and finally
reaching to the belief that “I worth being”. Such commitment to oneself is
obtained through experience and social and family opportunities. These
experiences and opportunities enable the individual to recognize and test his
abilities and disabilities and create real opportunities for himself.
Karl Rogers considers
the concept of “ego” the most important main element of his theory. In Roger’s
opinion, man feels the environmental factors and bestows meaning to them. The
set of these perceptual and semantic systems make the “psychological stability
field” of the person. Gradually, a part of perceptual field which is “self”,
distinguishes and shows itself and takes the concept of “ego”. “Ego” is a
perceptual thing in the ground of person’s experience and points out the
awareness of individual of his own performance. The concept of “ego” has several
dimensions and each dimension can be appraised. Therefore, the concept of “ego”
may be based on weakness or strength, like or dislike, good luck or bad luck, applying
each of these dimensions has special affect on the behaviour of the person. It
must be noted that the existence is not merely accompanied and simultaneous
with physical organism because no clear and precise boundary can be marked for
that. Whether we consider an object and or an experience as part of our “self”
or no, depends on our perception and the degree of our control on ourselves.
Perhaps, this is the control and or self-determination factor which makes a
baby be aware of him and makes him know that he can control part of his
experiences. While some authorities have used “self” and “organism”
interchangeably but in a limited level one may say that “self” is awareness of
“being” and “acting”. (Shafiabadi and Nasseri, 1989).
Allport hoped to
decrease the contradictions and ambiguities which are integral part of the explanations
related to “ego” by deleting the word “ego” and substituting another word which
can distinguish “ego” from other concepts. For this purpose, Allport selected
the word “self” in whose definition traits such as special and suitable for a
specified person can be considered. Self is a concept belonging exclusively to
one person and embraces all individual’s issues. Allport considers “self” as
“I, as I feel and know”.
In Sullivan’s view,
one of the constituents of personality is the mental image one has from himself
and others. This image is a complex mix of feelings, approaches and thoughts
whose aim is meeting the needs and mitigating anxiety of the person.
The conducted
researches have showed that one of the reasons of failure of students is their
negative judgment on themselves. A pupil who considers himself feeble-minded
has no incentive for studying, learning, and trying to learn and because of
having no incentive, he will not try and so he will fail in exams. When a
person considers himself a valuable and efficient person he will try to
materialize his judgment. Successes, values, and capabilities are effective in
creation of the type of life style (Amin Alzabayeh, 1988).
In a research titled
“Effect of Autognosis (Self-Knowledge) and Self-Sufficiency on Decision Makings
of Managers”, Ding Sing Si, Wang Younfang, and Zehzehou (2007) reached to
conclusion that autognosis has significant positive relation with decision
making of managers. This relation is such that as autognosis of the managers
strengthens they make better decisions.
In another research
performed in
In a research titled
“Relation of Autognosis of Managers with Degree of Their Stress in Guidance
Schools of Districts 2, 3, and 4 of Karaj City”, Mazaher Mahboui (2002) reached
to conclusion that there was significant relation between the educational level
of school principal and their autognosis and the degree of autognosis of women
principals is lower than the degree of autognosis of male principals.
Jazayeri (1995) in a
research on the relation of self-concept with the performance of the high
school principals of Esfahan City reached to conclusion that there was significant
relation between self-concept and the performance of the principals and the
type of university degree that the managers hold did not affect principals’ performances.
He expresses that the performance of the male principals is higher than the
performance of female principals but self-concept of male and female principals
is almost same.
In another research
titled “Relation of Self-Concept of Principals and Their Performances in High
Schools of Chahar va
In talking about
performance, Powell Heresy and Marshal state that not only the individual must
know what he shall do but also shall know continuously how well he fulfill the
task. Further, he needs to have legal ground for his decisions. In other word,
he need legal credit. The thinkers of management science consider performance as
the fruit of attempt, capability, and supporting factors of the individual in
performing the assigned missions (Mirsepassi, 1995).
Performance appraisal
is a process by which the performance of staff in organization s appraised. In
this respect, several definitions have been given. For instance, Randel et al
(1974) define Performance appraisal as “any act for promoting the efficiency of
employees through gathering, participation in, supervision on, and using
existing information”.
Performance appraisal is
a process by which the performance of the employee is measured and if done
properly, its benefits will go to employees, staff, supervisors, managers, and
finally the organization. The performance appraisal is defined as systematic
review and description of individual’s performance in the given job. In
structural official manner, performance appraisal is a system for measuring,
appraising, and affecting the features, behaviours, and occupational
achievements of the individual and hides absences. This will lead to
recognition of efficiency of individual and continuance of his effectiveness
(even at higher level) in future and this ultimately will lead to a situation
in which the organization and society will benefit more (Tousi and Saebi,
2002).
The general and
essential aim of this research is studying the relation of autognosis
(self-knowledge) of the principals with their performances in high schools of
1. Studying the effect
of educational level of principals on degree of their autognosis
2. Studying the effect
of sex on degree of autognosis of managers.
3. Studying the effect
of sex on performance of principals
4. Studying the effect
of sex on degree of self- receptiveness and the feedback of principals
5. Studying the effect
of educational level on degree of self-receptiveness and the feedback of
principals.
6. Studying the effect
of sex on degree of awareness of principals of value, orientation, and stylistics.
7. Studying the effect
of educational level on degree of awareness of principals of value, orientation,
and stylistics.
In this research two
questionnaires were used for gathering information. For studying the degree of
autognosis. The autognosis questionnaire of David, Ton, and Kim Cameron has been
used. This questionnaire, which consists of 11 questions y has been designed by
David, Ton, and Kim Cameron, has been presented in “Management Organization and
Research Approach” book, the book authored by Moghimi (1998). The questions
have been scaled based on Likert Scale and are measured in spectrum of “I
disagree completely, I disagree, I disagree a little, I agree a little, I
agree, and I agree completely. This questionnaire is standard. However, it has
been reviewed by different researchers and its content’s relevance has been
confirmed. Furthermore, by using Cronbach Alpha Reliability Method the degree
of its reliability was reported to be 0.88.
Table 1.
Sub-scales of the Autognosis Questionnaire of Principals.
|
Nos. of Questions |
Sub-scale |
# |
|
1, 2, 3, 9 and 11 |
Self- receptiveness
and Welcome to Others’ Feedbacks |
1 |
|
4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 10 |
Being aware of
Value, Stylistics, Orientation, Changes, and Personal Relations |
2 |
For determining the
degree of principals’ performances, self-report questionnaire with 30 questions
was used. For judging about the performance of the principal, the designed
questionnaire was made available to three teachers of each high school so that
the teachers evaluate the performance of the principals.
For designing the
questionnaire related to performance of the principal, at first a questionnaire
consisting of 40 questions was designed based on the aims of the research,
completed studies, consulting with experts and principals. The preliminarily
designed questionnaire was distributed among 30 randomly-selected teachers. The
teachers were asked to give opinion about the reliability of questions. The
researcher made further studies and collected the opinions of teachers and then
proceeded with amending the questionnaire and finally prepared a questionnaire
having 30 questions. Further, for determining the reliability of performance
questionnaire, the designed questionnaire was distributed between 35 persons
and the answers were collected. Then, for determining the reliability degree,
SPSS software was used and using Cranach Alpha Reliability Coefficient,
reliability was determined to be 0.876.
Based on above data,
there is significant difference between average autognosis of principals having
high school diploma and associate degree and between the average autognosis of
principals having high school diploma and bachelor’s degree (or higher
degrees).
According to Equality
of Variances Test (Lon Test) and its related significance level (0.081) which
is bigger than 0.05, the variances are equal with each other. Therefore, the
value of t in the equality level of variances is accepted. It is 1.707 and its
significance level is 0.089. Since the significance level is bigger than 0.05
the test is not significant. In other words, there is no significant difference
between the average value of auognosis of male principals and that of female
principals. This means that the autognosis of male and female principals is
almost equal.
Fourth Hypothesis: The performance of male
principals is more than the performance of female principals.
Table 2.
t-Test of Independent Groups.
|
|
Lon Test |
Independent t-Test |
|||||||
|
F |
Significance Level |
t |
Degree of Freedom |
Significance Level |
Difference of Averages |
Difference with Standard Deviation |
Reliability Gap in 0.95 Level |
||
|
Down |
Up |
||||||||
|
Equality Level of Variances |
0.505 |
0.478 |
0.436 |
214 |
0.663 |
0.037 |
0.084 |
-0.130 |
0.204 |
|
Inequality Level of Variances |
|
|
0.428 |
185.08 |
0.669 |
0.037 |
0.086 |
-0.133 |
0.207 |
According to Equality
of Variances Test (Lon Test) and its related significance level (0.478) which
is bigger than 0.05, the variances are equal with each other. Therefore, the
value of t in the equality level of variances is accepted. It is 0.436 and its
significance level is 0.663. Since the significance level is bigger than 0.05
the test is not significant. In other words, there is no significant difference
between the average value of performance of male principals and that of female
principals. This means that the performance of male and female principals is
almost equal and sex of the principals does not affect their performances.
The first finding of
the research proves significant relation between degree of autognosis
(self-knowledge) of principals and their performance. This finding agrees with
the results reached in researches made by Mr. Heshmatollah Tirgir and Mr.
Salimi (1999), Ding Sing Si, Wang Younfang, and Zehzehou (2007), and Bernd Marcus,
et al (2007) . This means that there is significant relation between autognosus
of principals and their performances. So, answer to main question of the
research is positive.
The other findings of
research show that the educational level of the principals may affect degree of
their autognosus and as the education level goes higher that effectiveness
grows too. This part of the research agrees with the results obtained in the
researches conducted by Mazaher Mahboubi (2002) and Amin Alzabayeh (1998).
Among other findings
of the research, equality of autognosis of female principals and male
principals many be pointed out. In other words, the male and female principals
enjoy almost equal autognosis. This part of the research agrees with the result
obtained by Jazayeri in his research (1995) but disagree with what Mazaher Mahboubi
concluded in his research (2002).
One of the other
findings of the research was existence of significant difference between the
performance of male principals and that of female principals. In other words,
the performance of male and female principals is almost equal and sex of the
principals may not affect the degree of performance. This part of research too
disagrees with the findings of Jazayeri (1995).
One other finding of
the research was the effect of educational level of principals on their receptiveness
and being receptive to feedbacks and the fact that sex of the principal has no
effect on the principal’s receptiveness and being receptive to feedbacks. This
part of research agrees with the results of Tirgar and Salimi’s research (1999)
and Amin Alzabayeh (1998).
The last finding of
the research relates to the effect of educational level of the principals and
their sex on degree of their awareness of value, orientation, and
stylistics.This part of research agrees with the results of the research
conducted by Tirgar and Salimi (1999).
Sources
1. Bernd Marcus, Richard D. Goffin,
Norman G. Johnson, Mitvhell G. Rothstein (2007). Human Performance.
2. Ding Ming Lei; Wang Yung; Zhao
Zhao (2007). Gery Systems and Intelligent Services. IEEE International
Conference on Volume, Issue, 18-20 Nov.
3. Joseph A. Bailey (2003).
Self-Image, Self-Concept and Self-Identity, Revised. Journal of Moo Assoc, Vol.
95, No.1.
4. Michael D. Ensley and Creig L
(Mar.,2001). Pearce Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 22, No.1.
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