Relationship between the school administrators' power sources and teachers' organizational trust levels in Turkey

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between school administrators' power sources and teachers' organizational trust levels. Design/methodology/approach – The sample of the study, which employed a survey research method, consisted of 376 primary school teachers in Kutahya, a city in western Turkey. The data gathering instrument of the study incorporated “School Administrators' Organizational Power Sources Scale” and “Organizational Trust Scale”. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis were used to analyze the data. Findings – According to the research findings, the participant teachers' organizational trust levels were high. When power sources used by school administrators were considered, they positively correlated with the teachers' organizational trust perceptions at a moderate level. However, only referent power was the significant predictor of organizational trust perceptions, while referent power, expert power and reward power were significant predictors of trust in administrator. Although the other power sources were highly preferred, they did not have an influence on employees' organizational trust perceptions. Power sources used by administrators explained approximately two‐fifths of total organizational trust perceptions of the teachers and three‐fifths of trust in administrator perceptions. Research limitations/implications – The research was limited to state primary school teachers' perceptions. Practical implications – The research findings could be used to analyze primary school teachers' organizational trust environment. To increase the organizational trust levels of the staff, school administrators can prefer the power of expertise, charisma and awards. In this respect, conducting studies especially to develop the expertise of the administrators can contribute to the development of the trust perceptions of the staff. Originality/value – Although there are studies on organizational trust, research connected to the relationship between power sources preferred by administrators and organizational trust has not been found. Furthermore, organizational power at schools is one of the disregarded fields of education.