Orientation to Authority in the Domiciliary

Abstract

Though the adjustment of domiciliary residents has been studied with personality inventories derived from personality theory and from psychiatric classification systems, there is a need to study the adjustment of residents with instruments derived from organizational theory. Gordon reported that domiciliary residents had high scores on the Work Environment Preference Schedule, reflecting their adjustment to a highly structured organization. This study was conducted to determine the nature of the adjustment reflected in high scores on the Work Environment Preference Schedule by correlating Schedule scores of 121 residents with supervisors' ratings on the Adjective Check List. Residents with high Total scores and high scores on the Traditionalism component were given Checklist ratings, indicating that they were seen as having less achievement, dominance, endurance, and order. However, high scores on the Work Environment Preference Schedule do not appear to reflect constructive adjustment to organizational authority found in the domiciliary but the lower priorities these residents place on the values of assertiveness and achievement. High scorers on the Traditionalism category tend to be more dependent on others, to seek support, to avoid situations calling for choice and decision-making, and are somewhat more likely to get into disciplinary difficulties and have a history of readmissions to the institution. Since the correlations between scores on the Work Environment Preference Schedule and such traditional personality measures as the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory are low, the Work Environment Preference Schedule contributes independent additional variance and may be valuable in either clinical research or program evaluation studies in the domiciliary.