RELATION BETWEEN EGO STATES AND TEAM ROLES ON TEACHER’S SAMPLE: CAN DOMINANT EGO STATE PREDICT PREFERED TEAM ROLE?

The aim of this research was to examine relation between ego states and team roles on elementary and secondary school teacher’s sample. Concept of team roles is a concept given by Meridith Belbin (1981). Belbin defined an ideal team as a group of individuals who are capable to fulfill eight team roles he had identified. Ego states are a concept derived from Transactional Analysis, founded by Eric Bern. Ego states are defines as „coherent systems of thoughts, feelings, manifested by corresponding patterns of behavior” (Bern, 1972).Two instruments were used in this study, Ego State Questionnaire-Revised (ESQ-R) (Loffredo at al., 2004) and The Belbin Team Inventory (1981). The the Ego State Questionnaire-Revised (ESQ-R) with five measuring subjects, measuring three main ego states (Adult, Parent and Child) in detail by separation into independent measuring subject positive and negative part of Parent and Child ego states. Those five measuring subject are: Nurturing Parent, Critical Parent, Adult, Free Child and Adapted Child. The second instrument used in this research was Belbin Team Inventory, which has eight measuring subject regarding eight team roles: Plants, Monitor Evaluator, Completer Finisher, Team worker, Chairman, Shaper, Company worker, Resource Investigator. Both instruments has a satisfactory level of reliability and adequate factor validity.The sample was convenient and it consisted of 186 respondents in total, both sexes (M=80; F=106) age range from 23 to 64 (M=38.48). Data was analyzed through correlation and linear regression analysis.Results show that correlation exist between some of the team roles and some of the ego states. Team role Team Worker has a statistically significant and negative correlation with Adult ego state and statistically significant but positive correlation with Critical Parent ego state. Team role Company Worker has a statistically significant and positive correlation with ego state Free Child. When it comes to regression analysis result show following: team role Plants can be predicted by Adult (β=-.513) ego state; and team role Team Worker can be predicted by Free Child ego state (β=.269).Only two team roles were predicted by some of the ego states: Plants and Team Worker. Following team roles were not predicted by any of the ego States: Monitor Evaluator, Resource investigator, Chairman, Shaper, Company worker, Completer Finisher. It is possible that ego States are not important for team roles in question, but there is also one other possibility, that team roles in question do not appear in their pure form in teachers work environment. Further research should be done in order to determine if one of possibilities in question is correct, and if some third option exist, presumably on population not consisted only of teacher but also of employees in other fields of work.