Relationship Between Job Autonomy and Job Stress Among Public Secondary School Principals in Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

School principals play a dynamic role in schools’ administrative processes where independent decision-making is inevitable. The present study investigates the level of job autonomy as experienced by public secondary school principals of Punjab, Pakistan. The study further determines the relationship between job autonomy and job stress among school principals. The study uses a survey research design where two scales i.e., Job Autonomy Scale by Breaugh (1985) and Organizational Stress Index by Shrivastava and Singh (1984) were used to measure job autonomy and job stress respectively. The study comprises the sample of 145 public secondary school principals, working in a district of Punjab, Pakistan. The research questions are addressed by conducting descriptive as well as inferential statistics. The study identifies a positive and moderate relationship between job autonomy and job stress among secondary school principals. It is found that school principals perceive themselves more autonomous in method autonomy and scheduling autonomy while less autonomous in criteria autonomy. The results exhibit that school principals suffered from greater stress because of low self-esteem. The current study suggests that school principals should be provided with middle-level job autonomy to mitigate their job stress.