An investigation into the relationships between job satisfaction, temperament type, and selected demographic variables among West Virginia vocational agriculture teachers

The purposes of this study were to: (a) determine the distribution of personality temperament types of the study population of West Virginia vocational agriculture teachers, (b) determine the degree of job satisfaction expressed by West Virginia vocational agriculture teachers, (c) determine the distribution of job satisfaction among West Virginia vocational agriculture teachers by temperament type, (d) determine the distribution of West Virginia vocational agriculture teachers’ temperament types by selected demographic variables, and (e) determine the relationship between West Virginia vocational agriculture teachers’ satisfaction and selected demographic variables.

The study population of 63 vocational agriculture teachers who attended the 1988 West Virginia Vocational Conference were each provided with a packet of questionnaires. Temperament types were determined using Form G of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and job satisfaction by the short form of the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ). Demographics were surveyed using an instrument developed for that purpose by the researcher.

The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS-X). Frequencies, means, and correlation coefficients (Pearson Product Moment and Kendall Tau) were the procedures utilized to answer the research questions.

Major conclusions were as follows: (a) the majority of West Virginia vocational agriculture teachers were of the sensing-judging temperament type and the smallest group was the intuitive type, (b) West Virginia agriculture teachers were more satisfied with intrinsic than extrinsic job factors, (c) overall, West Virginia vocational agriculture teachers were satisfied with intrinsic job factors and moderately satisfied with their work in terms of general satisfaction, (d) West Virginia teachers were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with extrinsic job factors, (e) teachers of the sensing-perceiving temperament type were the least satisfied on extrinsic and general job factors, (f) West Virginia teachers of the sensing-judging type were the oldest teachers and sensing-perceiving were the youngest, (g) teachers with sensing personality styles were more likely to hold advanced degrees than those with intuitive temperament types, (h) there was little relationship between the variables of age, educational level, years of experience, or number of teachers in a department and job satisfaction of West Virginia vocational agriculture teachers, (i) married West Virginia vocational agriculture teachers were more satisfied with their jobs than single teachers, and (j) teachers with intuitive-thinking personality types had the least teaching experience of the four Keirsey temperament types.