EFFECTS OF AMBIGUITY TOLERANCE ON EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATION HEADS' PROFESSIONALLY-IMPORTANT QUALITIES

Abstract

The article deals with the effects of ambiguity tolerance on educational organization heads' professionally-important qualities. The purpose of the article is to identify the specifics of the impact of tolerance for uncertainty on the professionally important qualities of the head of the educational organization. Having analyzed the studies on the problem of ambiguity tolerance and its manifestation in professional activity, the author defines ambiguity tolerance as a personal trait that is manifested by accepting or rejecting objects that are perceived as complex, contradictory, and incomprehensible because they can not be unambiguously related to past experiences. It was found that a head of an educational organization often works in conditions of uncertainty, when the situation is complex, unpredictable or probable, and when data are unavailable or contradictory. Ambiguity tolerance and willingness to accept ambiguity and maintain work effectiveness in ambiguous conditions or to avoid them, is a professionally-important quality of a manager. However, ambiguity tolerance is just one of many professionally-important qualities of educational organization heads, and it is related to their other characteristics, which determine the general character of their managerial work, rather than their work in ambiguous conditions. Having conducted an empirical study of the impact of educational organization heads' ambiguity tolerance on their professionally important qualities, the author presents the results of one-way analysis of variance, where the level of ambiguity tolerance (high, medium and low) acts as a factor (independent variable). The dependent variables in this analysis include autonomy-dependence, interpersonal relationship types, internality in different areas, personal decision-making factors, thinking styles, and stress-coping strategies. It was found that ambiguity tolerance, as a basic individual trait of the head of the educational organization, is associated with their professionally-important qualities and determines the character of their interpersonal relationships, type of conscious self-regulation (independence or dependence on others), control locus, readiness to take risks, and stress-coping strategies. The heads of educational organizations with high ambiguity tolerance were shown to be prone to take risks, to dominate in interpersonal relationships, to be more internal and independent in work and more assertive in stressful situations.