A Study of Organizational Climate in Relation to Organizational Role Stress (ORS) and Learned Helplessness (LH)

The purpose of the study is to investigate the relationship between the factors of learned helplessness (LH) and organizational role stress (ORS) to the motivational climate of the organization. The sample comprised of two hundred and twenty respondents belonging to the middle management of five units of the engineering industry located in western India. Motivational Climate of the organization is analyzed by using MAO-C questionnaire (Pareek 1981) comprising of 60 statements employing twelve dimensions and six motives of the organization. Organizational Role Stress scale (Pareek 1981) is used to measure the stress the individual feels in the organization. It is a five point scale wherein 10 dimensions of stress are measured. Learned Helplessness scale (Pestonjee and Reddy, 1988) consisting of 24 items with a six-point rating format, is used to measure learned helplessness. Means and S.D.’s intercorrelations and regressions are used to interpret the data. From the results, we observe that Role Erosion was the highest contributor of stress in this group. The climate of the organization that is related to the trust among various members and groups seems to significantly affect the learned helplessness and stress of the executives. ‘Management of rewards’ was the other dimension of organizational climate which had a significant bearing on the dependent variables of learned helplessness (LH) and organizational role stress (ORS).