Investigating the Relationship between Self-awareness and Job Performance among the Librarians of Public libraries in East Azerbaijan Province

Purpose: The Purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between self-awareness and job performance among the librarians of public libraries in East Azerbaijan province. Method: This research is an applied study in terms of purpose and quantitative-descriptive and correlational in terms the type and manner of collecting research data, which was conducted using the survey method. The research population consisted of all librarians of public libraries of East Azerbaijan province, who numbered 273 according to the statistics of Iran Public Libraries Foundation. According to Cochran's formula, 160 cases were selected as a statistical sample and questionnaires were randomly distributed among them. 81 librarians completed and returned questionnaires. For data collection, Saleh Bolourdi questionnaire for self-awareness (2009) was used and for job performance, two questionnaires were used: questionnaire on functional job performance by Birneh et al. (2005), and questionnaire on contextual job performance by Connery (1999). The content validity of the research instrument was verified by experts and specialists, and the reliability of the questionnaire was equal to 0.756 for the self-awareness questionnaire and 0.925 for the job performance questionnaire, according to Cronbach’s alpha coefficient respectively. Due to the normality of data distribution, Pearson correlation test was used to discover the relationship between the two variables and multiple regression test was used to predict the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable. Findings: Pearson correlation test results showed that there was a meaningful correlation between self-awareness of public librarians and their job performance (0.289). The results of multiples linear regression explain three variables of task job performance, including: self-wareness in public setting (0.171), self-wareness in personal setting (0.180) and self-awareness in managerial position (0.445). They also explain three variables of contextual job performance, including: self-wareness in public setting (0.188), self-wareness in personal setting (0.253) and self-awareness in managerial position (0.460). Originality/value: The present study is innovative in that it has independently examined the role of self-awareness and its dimensions in the task and contextual job performance of public librarians. According to the research findings, self-awareness can be a major factor in improving the job performance of librarians. Therefore, Iran Public Libraries Foundation can design and run the necessary workshops and educational programs to increase the level of self-awareness of librarians.