ADMINISTRATIVE BEHAVIOR AND SUBORDINATE LOYALTY: AN EMPIRICAL ASSESSMENT

The theoretical and practical significance of the concept of subordinate loyalty to immediate superior is developed, and then, an empirical exploration of administration behavior that best predicts subordinate loyalty to elementary and secondary principals is undertaken. Data were collected from the principals and faculties in eighty public schools. Those characteristics of principal behavior accounting for the greatest explanation of loyalty are Thrust, Consideration, Initiating Structure, and Nonauthoritarianism; however, somewhat contrasting profiles emerge in predicting teacher loyalty in elementary and secondary schools. While Initiating Structure of the principal has high value in the secondary schools, it is Consideration, not Initiating Structure, which is most salient in elementary schools.