Least Preferred Coworker

Least Preferred Co-Worker Scale The LPC scale is used in contingency theory to measure a person's leadership style. For example, it measures your style by having you describe a coworker with whom you had difficulty completing a job. This does not need to be a co-worker you disliked a great deal, but rather someone with whom you least like to work. After you have selected this individual, the LPC instrument asks you to describe your coworker on 18 sets of adjectives. Low LPCs are task motivated. They are individuals whose primary needs are to accomplish tasks and whose secondary needs are focused on getting along with people. In a work setting, they are concerned with achieving success on assigned tasks, even if at the cost of having poor interpersonal relation- ships with coworkers. Low LPCs gain self-esteem through achieving their goals. They attend to interpersonal relationships, but only after they first have directed themselves toward the tasks of the group.
In the context of work, they are self-directed and not overly concerned with the task or with how others view them. They are more removed from the situation and act more independent than low or high LPCS. High LPCs are motivated by relationships. These individuals derive their major satisfaction in an organization from getting along with people-inter- personal relationships. A high LPC sees positive qualities even in the co- worker she or he least prefers, even though the high LPC does not work well with that person. In an organizational setting, the high LPC attends to tasks, but only after she or he is certain that the relationships between people are in good