Title: The Open Versus Closed Mind in Management: an Exploration.
Abstract: A study was conducted to determine what relationships there might be between the personality structure (dogmatism) of managers, their attitude toward their subordinates, th eir role perceptions, their personal background variables, and selected organizational variables in the farm product industry.The analysis of covariance method was employed using the full range of dogmatism scores.Also, the chi-square test for independence was applied to the upper and lower quartiles of the dogmatism scores.Respondents include 445 male managers.Of the subjects, 44 were classified as first-lin e managers, 224 as lower-middle managers, 117 as upper-middle managers, and 60 as top managers.The results of the analysis depicted a positive relation ship between open-mindedness and organizational level.For this sample, upper-middle and top managers were significantly more openminded on the average than were fir s t-lin e and lower-middle managers.No significant difference was found between mean dogmatism scores of the various functional areas of employment.However, a significant dependency was found when the open-minded and closedminded groups were compared.Those in the "general management" category were overrepresented in the open-minded category.A significant positive correlation between open-mindedness and Theory Y attitudes toward subordinates was found.Also, a significant chi-square was found.The moderate Theory X group was underrepresented in the open-minded category, while the Theory Y group was overrepresented in the open-minded category.Moderate Theory Y respondents were also overrepresented in the open-minded category.Theory X respondents appear to have fallen into each category as expected sta tistica lly .For this sample of managers, open-minded respondents were more likely to hold Theory Y attitudes toward subordinates than were closed-minded individuals.There was no evidence that a significant relationship existed between dogmatism and the respondent's perceived need to act in a considerate manner.However, the results indicate that the open-minded respondents perceived significantly less need to in itiate structure than did their closed-minded counterparts.No significant relationships were found between dogmatism scores and various combinations of consideration and structure.Age was not found to be significantly associated with dogmatism using the entire range of scores.However, when the closed-minded group was compared to the open-minded group, a significant dependency was found between age and dogmatism.It appears that the under 30 age group represents more closed-minded personalities than expected and the 41-50 age group represents slightly fewer closed-minded personalities than expected s t a t i s t i cally.x A significant relationship was found between dogmatism and education level.Generally, the relationship was an