RENSIS LIKERT: BIOGRAPHY, THEORIES, OTHER CONTRIBUTIONS, WORKS - BIOGRAPHIES - 2025

Rensis Likert (1903-1981) was an American psychologist who stood out for his work as a teacher, for his published works, and his approach to managing organizations. He had a very important role during the 60s and 70s, when his work had a great influence on the Asian continent.

His theories outlined the importance of evaluating and taking into account the human aspects to build a successful organization. In addition, it allowed workgroup coordinators to adopt better tools to manage their subordinates.

Source: University of Michigan. News and Information Services. Photographs, via Wikimedia Commons.

In addition, he was the creator of the five-point scale in questionnaires, also known as the Likert scale. This tool was used to determine the level of people's abilities thanks, above all, to the use of surveys or personality questionnaires.

Throughout his career he received multiple awards for his contributions to psychology, especially in the social or organizational branch. She wrote and collaborated in the realization of multiple books throughout her career. Most of her works focused on the subject of administration.

His first studies on the theory of organizational climate were in 1946. Likert first conducted his studies with a group of employees of an insurance company.

He worked closely with his wife, Jane Gibson, to determine the importance of the environment in the working groups. The couple proposed several issues that should be taken into account when analyzing an organization, such as a good communication process, the importance of the people in the team or the motivation that is exercised.

Biography

Early years

Rensis Likert was born on August 5, 1903 in the city of Cheyenne, the capital of Wyoming in the United States. He was the son of the couple formed by George Herbert Likert and Cornelia Adrianna.

Rensis's father was a great influence on her professional development. George Likert worked as an engineer for the Union Pacific railroad company. Likert initially followed in his father's footsteps and began his studies in civil engineering at the University of Michigan.

After three years of study, Likert also started working for Union Pacific as an intern. During that time there was a workers' strike and Likert began to show interest in the analysis of behavior and the constitution of organizations.

Changes

His experiences at Union Pacific led him to change his area of ​​study. He enrolled in economics and sociology at the same University of Michigan where he had begun his engineering training. One of his great mentors was Professor Robert Angell.

Likert finally graduated in 1926 as a sociologist. He continued his training and studied theology for a year. He obtained his doctorate in psychology in 1932 at Columbia University, where he had his first approach with the social approach.

Family

Likert got married while doing his Ph.D. at Columbia. His wife was Jane Gibson with whom he had two daughters: Elizabeth and Patricia. One of his most important books, New Ways to Manage Conflicts (1967) was co-authored with his wife, and it is also one of his last works.

Retirement

When Likert retired from his position as director at the Institute for Social Research, he moved to Honolulu, Hawaii. From the island he continued working and formed Rensis Likert Associates in 1970 when he was already 67 years old. The company focused on consulting work to other companies.

He died at the age of 78 in the city of Ann Arbor, in the state of Michigan. Her death was reported by prestigious media, such as the well-known The New York Times.

Jobs

He had various jobs and roles throughout his career. In 1935 Likert was the director of the Life Insurance Agency Management Association (LIAMA), a major insurance agency.

Later, the office in charge of agricultural statistics hired him to poll workers in the area about the new programs that were being applied by the United States government. He came under pressure as the Conservative party forced the investigations to stop.

In 1946 Likert decided to move his work to the University of Michigan where, together with a group of scientists, they founded the Survey Research Center, today known as the Institute for Social Research.

Likert remained at his alma mater until his retirement almost 25 years later. At that time he began to develop more projects on a personal level.

Theory of management styles

Thanks to different studies, Rensis Likert had evidence that excessive pressure on employees in an organization is not the best way to coordinate them. This approach only served to have a work group busy with different tasks all the time, but the work carried out was not characterized by being the most efficient or competent.

Likert explained that focusing the management of employees only according to the task to be performed was not the best methodology. It was then that he proposed that supervision in companies and jobs should be done with greater emphasis on employees.

Likert's thesis was based on the fact that people are the ones who make a company and not the other way around. In this way, he established that the organizations with the most productive results were those that managed to involve their employees in the changes, without very restrictive controls and with real objectives at the productivity level.

Likert managed to establish four different styles of directing thanks to his research. He spoke of authoritarian systems, which could in turn be restrictive or condescending. The other two styles were more open, since they could be consultative or focused on encouraging participation.

Authoritarian-repressive

This management system speaks of a coordination or administration of work groups with no confidence in the personnel. With this method, the leaders of the organizations believe that their success is in the fear that they can generate. They are the absolute decision-makers.

The communication process in this system is not very efficient as it is not bidirectional. There is a leader who speaks and a group of subordinates who follow directions.

It is also called as a type of exploitative climate.

Authoritarian-understanding

It is the second system exposed by Likert and is less restrictive than the previous system. Trust in staff remains low. Motivation is sought thanks to rewards, almost always at an economic level, although there may also be the threat of punishment. Communication processes are more fluid.

It can also be termed as a paternalistic system.

Query system

This type of management is considered more participatory than in the two previous cases. Here the climate of an organization is closer to what Likert considers a good management methodology.

The control of decisions continues to be at the top levels of command, it no longer depends only on the managers of the companies. Managers of different levels also participate and the goals are discussed.

Participation style

This is the fourth and last system exposed by Likert. It was considered the most effective at the organizational level. According to the American psychologist, decision-making is discussed at all levels of the company. The rewards are present and can be symbolic or financial.

The communication flow is the most efficient since it can be ascending, descending or horizontal, as the case warrants. This shows a higher level of trust in the employees of the organizations.

It was considered that the motivational level of the staff is high because they are more involved with all processes. Likewise, goals are established that must be met.

Organizational climate theory

Likert developed his theory on the climate in companies in 1968. In this approach, the psychologist recalled that these factors vary according to the cultural elements that define each organization. The environment generates certain influences, as well as the behaviors of its employees and the focus of the company.

Likert's hypothesis in this theory is that employees behave accordingly to the behaviors they display the highest levels and to the conditions they experience at work. What this means is that people react according to the climate in which they exist in companies.

Based on what Likert put it, companies that are concerned that employees can meet their goals and realize their aspirations perform better. There are many factors that can affect the climate of a company. Staff turnover, productivity levels, the degree of worker satisfaction are fundamental elements.

Likert proposed three serve to assess what is the impression that exists of the work environment. It speaks of causal elements, intermediate level variables and the final ones.

Causal

The causal factors refer to the development or not of a company. The results obtained and whether they are positive or not are valued, which defines the organizational climate.

Intermediate

The internal structure of a company is further analyzed. Points such as effectiveness, performance, communication processes, participation in decision-making are touched.

Final variables

They emerge as a consequence of the analysis of causal factors and intermediate variables. It is more about the results of the company. The level of profit, or deficit, as well as overall production are valued.

The relationship between these three elements, and how employees perceive each variable, which determines the climate of a company. But we must not forget that this is a theory that is also closely linked to the four management styles that Likert also proposed and that talks about human relations within the company.

Other contributions

Likert was of great importance for the creation of the Institute for Social Research which is located at the University of Michigan. Thanks to his leadership, the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan was the leading university organization for social scientific studies.

It currently has more than 250 scientists in different areas of the social sciences, but it began thanks to the work of Likert and six other researchers.

His work also had a great influence on the constitution of companies thanks to his books.

Psychometry

Likert helped a lot in the evolution of psychometrics. This science is in charge of evaluating the mental functioning of people at a general level.

One of his first contributions in this discipline was the creation of the so-called interviews with open questions. With this method, there was no single way to answer what was asked and the analysis was more complex, but it allowed a better understanding of people's attitudes.

With this new way of interviewing potential workers Likert put an end to the questionnaires of closed and objective questions, very popular during the 1930s.

Likert scale

The importance of Rensis Likert did not remain only in his study of the operation of organizations or companies. He was also the creator of an evaluation form to know the opinions and attitudes of the respondents. In his honor, this method was called the Likert scale.

It is the most widely used form of measurement worldwide. But do not forget that there are other types of survey that can be done to people to get opinions. It is very effective when the information you want to obtain is about someone's degree of satisfaction.

The responses obtained on the Likert scale are positive, negative or neutral. They can refer to the level of agreement that exists on an approach (in favor, more or less agree, doubtful, against, or completely contrary to the statement). They are also consulted about the repetition of things, the relevance and the possibility of something happening.

One point in favor of this type of survey is that they are easy to create and apply. Against this scale is that there is the opinion that people tend to respond in a positive way because it is easier and faster.

Plays

There were several books in which Rensis Likert participated throughout his career. In some cases he was the author and in others he contributed information. His wife participated in one of his most important works. The central focus of most of his jobs was business administration.

His first work was in 1932, entitled Techniques for the measurement of professional attitudes. But his best known books were Management of Morale and Agency, which he wrote with Willits. There they talked about how interaction serves to stimulate workers and feel part of a larger entity. It focused primarily on insurance companies and had four volumes.

His works Human Organizations (in 1967) and New Ways of Managing Conflict (published in 1976) were also very popular.

References

1. Converse, J. (2010). Survey Research in the United States: Roots and Emergence 1890-1960. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers.
2. Likert, R. and Likert, J. (1976). New ways of managing conflict. New York: McGraw-Hill.
3. Mehta, A. (2009). Organization development: Principles, Process & Performance. New Delhi: Global India Publications.
4. Murphy, G. and Likert, R. (1967). Public opinion and the individual. New York: Russell & Russell.
5. Pugh, D. and Hickson, D. (2007). Great writers on organizations, 3rd omnibus edition. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate.