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WORKERS RELIGIOUS AFFILIATIONS AND

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EXPLORATORY STUDY
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WORKERS RELIGIOUS AFFILIATIONS AND ORGANIZATIONAL

BEHAVIOUR: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY
Seth Ayim Gyekye
Mohammad Haybatollahi

ABSTRACT
The increased and sustained importance of religion in the workplace has made
religiosity an important area of interest in organizational psychology. The current study
examined the impact of religion on organizational behaviour among three Ghanaian
religious groups: Christianity, Islam, and Traditional African Religion. Workers
affiliated with these groups were assessed with standardized research instruments that
measured their perceptions of workplace safety, compliance with safety management
procedures (safety behaviour), perceived organizational support (POS), job satisfaction,
and participation in organizational citizenship behaviours (OCB). Their accident
involvement during the past 12 months was also examined. Preliminary analyses with
ANOVA indicated that workers affiliated with the Christian faith had the best
perspectives on the organizational variables under study. Chi-square and MANOVA
revealed that the results were due more to education and socio-economic factors than
religious affiliation. After controlling for these confounding effects via multiple
regressions, workers of all three religious groups indicated identical scores on the
measured items. The results have implications for organizational behaviour and are
discussed.
Keywords: Religiosity, educational background, job satisfaction, organizational
citizenship behaviour, organizational safety perceptions, perceived organizational
support, accident frequency, social exchange theory.
INTRODUCTION
Religiosity and social behaviour
Fem (1963), in An encyclopedia of religion, defines religion to be a set of behaviours or
meanings which are connected to the actions of a religious person (p. 647). Religion is such
an integral part of life and culture that the essential role it plays in human behaviour has
inspired researchers to investigate the potential relationship between various forms of
religiosity and social behaviour. This relationship has intrigued both earlier (Allport 1953)
and contemporary researchers (Ntalianis & Darr 2005; Lynn et al. 2011). For example,
religious commitment and participation have consistently emerged as significant contributors
in Quality of Life (QOL) indicators such as life satisfaction, happiness, and meaning in life
(Poloma & Pendleton 1990). Poloma and Pendletons comprehensive review of the literature
indicated that religiosity was an important predictor of general life satisfaction, existential
well-being, and overall happiness. Additionally, it has been linked with outcomes including
physical health and psychological well-being (Hayward & Elliott 2009), fewer depressive
symptoms (Kutcher et al. 2010) and workplace accident frequency (Holcom et al. 1993;
Gyekye & Salminen 2007).

Gyekye Ayim Seth (GAS) (gas.gyekye@bucks.ac.uk) is a Senior Lecturer in Occupational and Organizational
Psychology in the Dept. of Psychology, Buckinghamshire New University, UK; Mohammad Haybatollahi,
(mohammad.haybatollahi@gmail.com) is a Statistical Analyst in the Dept. of Surveying and Planning, Aalto
University, Espoo, Finland.
International Journal of Organisational Behaviour, Volume 17 (4), 1-18
() GA Seth & M Haybatollahi

ISSN 1440 5377

Workers Religious Aaffiliations and

Organizational Behaviour: An Exploratory Study

GA Aymin & M Haybatollahi

Religiosity and organizational behaviour

During the last decade, religious diversity in the workplace has made religiosity an attractive
field for organizational research, and has received both theoretical and empirical attention
from organizational scholars. According to the literature on psychology of religion, religion
produces both formal and informal norms and provides adherents with certain prescribed
behaviour (Allport 1953). Several studies that have systematically investigated the underlying
dynamics of religiosity in organizational behaviours have found a link between religious
affiliation and workplace behaviour. Strong positive correlations have been discovered
between peoples religiosity and their job attitudes (Sikorsa-Simmons 2005; Kutcher et al.
2010), and ethical decision-making in organizations (Weaver & Agle 2002; Fernando &
Jackson 2006). Greater religiosity was associated with higher job satisfaction and was a
significant predictor of organizational commitment (Sikorsa-Simmons 2005). Fernando and
Jackson (2006) suggest that the traditions of the worlds major religions have endured the test
of time and note that the values inherent in those religions may be relevant to the management
of modern organizations. Most religions and the consequent religious beliefs incorporate
strong teachings about appropriate ethical behaviours. These have often guided organizational
managers on the moral and ethical guidelines needed in order to resolve ethical dilemmas
their organizations faced (Weaver & Agle 2002; Turnipsed 2002). Additionally, religious
individuals have indicated higher scores on work centrality, demonstrating that work held a
more central role in their lives than their non-religious counterparts (Harpaz 1998). Extant
research therefore considers religion as an important mechanism for increased organizational
performance, and a spiritually minded workforce as having better work attitudes (Chusmir &
Koberg 1988; Lynn et al. 2011).
Work ethic, a religious oriented concept, reflects a constellation of attitudes and beliefs
pertaining to work behaviour. Organizational scholarsKidron (1978) and recently,
Sikorska-Simmons (2005)both found that the Protestant Work Ethic (PWE), measured by
the commitment to the values of hard work was positively correlated with organizational
commitment and dedication. Organizational commitment reflects being cognitively and
emotionally attached to ones organization. An individual displaying a high work ethic would
place great value on hard work, fairness, personal honesty, accountability, and intrinsic values
of work. Contemporary theorists who have examined the PWE have concluded that the PWE
is no longer a Protestant issue, as all religious groups espouse the importance of work and,
hence, share to the same degree the attributes associated with the work ethic (e.g., Miller et al.
2001; Yousef 2001). For example, the views of Islam about the workplace are denoted under
Islamic Work Ethic (ISE), and preach commitment, accountability, and dedication to ones
organization (Yousef 2001). Other religious views like Hinduism and Buddhism also propose
hard work and devotion as the tools for the modification and total enrichment of life, the soul
and work (Jacobson 1983). For Traditionalists, it is more of teamwork, interdependence,
co-responsibility, integrity, and respect for hierarchical order at home and at work (Fisher
1998). Adherents who are committed to their religious ideals have been inspired to show
positive work attitudes such as co-operation and loyalty, obedience, commitment and
dedication to their organizations (Ntalianis & Raja 2002), exhibited more pro-organizational
behaviours (Gyekye & Salminen 2008; Kutcuher et al. 2010) and limited antisocial or
counterproductive work behaviour (Ntalianis & Raja 2002).
In the accident and organizational safety literature, workers' religiosity was found to be
closely associated with risk taking behaviours (Kouabenan 1998; Peltzer & Renner 2003),
causality and responsibility attributions for industrial accidents (Gyekye & Salminen 2007),

International Journal of Organisational Behaviour

Volume 17 (4)

traffic accidents (Peltzer & Renner 2003), and accident frequency (Gyekye & Salminen 2007;
Holcom et al. 1993). According to these reports, workers affiliated with Islam and Traditional
African religions, more than their Christian counterparts, tend to be more fatalistic in their
causality and responsibility explanations for industrial and traffic accidents, as they
emphasized more spiritual influence on the accident process. By contrast, other findings (e.g.,
Hood et al. 1996; Kumza et al. 1973) did not indicate any association between religious
affiliation and organizational behaviours. Kumza and his associates (1973) found that religion
was not a significant factor in traffic violations and accidents.
Religious beliefs and values have also been predictive of organizational commitment and job
satisfaction (e.g., Veechio 1980). Veechio (1980) found that religious affiliation, after
controlling for occupational prestige, accounted for a significant proportion of variance in job
satisfaction. Additionally, he noted that religious affiliation was significantly related to
organizational commitment, with Protestants displaying higher commitments than Catholics.
Membership or affiliation with religious groups provides a mechanism by which individuals
establish a highly valued social network (Myers 2000), which is important for the shaping of
societal values and norms, and for ethical decision making at the workplace (Weaver & Agle
2002). Allport and Ross (1967) have distinguished between intrinsic and extrinsic religious
membership. According to these experts, intrinsically oriented persons truly believe in their
religious beliefs, internalize them, and use the doctrines to guide them in all other aspects of
their life. They view and experience religion as a master motive with all aspects of life
referenced to it. In contrast, extrinsically oriented individuals have a utilitarian approach and
view religion only as a meaningful source of social status.
Current study and hypothesis
Despite the attention to religiosity and workplace behaviour, this relationship is less clear and
ambiguous. The current empirical study is a necessary exploratory study that aims to examine
the influence of religion on organizational behaviour in Ghanas work environment. It
investigated workers affiliated with the three main religious groups: Christianity, Islam and
Traditional African Religion, and their perceptions and participations in organizational
activities. This examination is of relevance due to the great symbolic significance that
religious institutions have in Ghana. Official figures released by the Ghana Statistical
Services in 2010 put Christians at 65%, Moslems at 20%, Traditionalists at 10%, and people
of other or no religions at 5%. Belief in God, Allah, or gods is thus widespread, with many
people often deferring to or using theology in their interpretations of social reality. It is
therefore not uncommon in Ghanaian workplaces to hear workers cite their religious
convictions, among other reasons for behaving in certain ways.
The analyses compared workers of these three religious groups on the following:
(i) perceptions of workplace safety, (ii) compliance with safety management procedures,
(iii) accident frequency, (iv) perceptions of organizational support (POS), (v) commitment to
organizational citizenship behaviours (OCB), and (vi) job satisfaction. These six
organizational variables were chosen because of their close interconnection and relevance to
workplace safety. For example, OCBs have been positively associated with workplace safety
perception, job satisfaction, safe work practices (e.g., Gyekye, Salminen & Ojajarvi 2012),
and negatively associated with accident frequency (e.g., Christian et al., 2009). Similarly,
POS has also been positively linked with outcomes such as job satisfaction (Eisenberger et al.,
2001; DeJoy et al., 2010), workers' compliance with safe work practices (Gyekye & Salminen
2009; Hofmann & Morgeson 1999), and negatively associated with accident frequency

Workers Religious Aaffiliations and

Organizational Behaviour: An Exploratory Study

GA Aymin & M Haybatollahi

(DeJoy et al. 2010; Gyekye & Salminen 2009). As documented in the literature on
psychology of religion, most religions encourage altruistic values and behaviours, and
discourage anti-social behaviours. Given the observation that religious doctrines tend to
influence considerably devotees behaviour (Ntalianis & Raja 2002; Chusmir & Koberg
1988), it is our contention that religious workers organizational behaviour will be affected in
a positive and constructive way by their relgious tenets. Thus:
Hypothesis: Despite the absence of ample evidence that bears directly on these relationships,
it is anticipated that workers of the three religious groups would display positive and identical
organizational behaviours.
METHODOLOGY
Participants were 320 Ghanaian industrial workers from underground mines (n = 102) and
factories (n = 218). The factory workers were mainly from textiles, breweries, food
processing plants and timber and saw-mill plants. Participants had the following
characteristics: 65% (n = 208) were male and 35% (n = 112) female. Subordinate workers
made up 75% (n = 240) and supervisors 25% (n = 80). Forty-two percent (42%, n = 135) of
the participants were married and 58% (n = 185) were unmarried. Christians comprised 66%
(n = 211), Muslims, 22% (n = 70), Traditionalists, 9% (n = 29) and workers affiliated with
other religious groups such as Buddhism, Shintoism, and Hinduism 3% (n = 10). Their
educational background was as follows: 50% (n = 160) had basic education, 30% (n = 96)
secondary education, 17% (n = 54) professional education, and 3% (n = 10), university
education.
Procedure. During lunch break, participants responded to a questionnaire in English, which
took 1520 minutes to complete. Supervisors were educationally sound and completed the
questionnaire unaided. For illiterate or semi-literature respondents who had difficulty
understanding written English, the local language was used via the interpretation of a research
assistant. All were assured that their responses would remain anonymous and confidential and
without disclosure even to their line managers.
Measures
Religious affiliation. Participants were requested to mark the option that corresponded to the
religious group to which they belong or adhere. Response options were: (a) Christianity
(b) Islam (c) Traditional African Religion and (d) Other.
Religiosity is an indicator of participants degree of religiousness. The more value they have
for and involve themselves in religious gatherings and activities, the higher their religiosity. It
was assessed with a single item measure of frequency of attendance at religious meetings (in
church, mosques, and shrines). Response options were: (a) Very Regular (b) Regular
(c) Sometimes (d) Seldom (e) Never.
Perceptions of workplace safety were measured with the 50-item Work Safety Scale (WSS)
developed by Hayes et al. (1998). This instrument assesses employees perceptions on work
safety and measures 5 distinct constructs, each with 10 items: (i) job safety (sample item:
Safety programs are effective: = .96), (ii) co-workers safety (sample item: Pay attention
to safety rules: =.80), (iii) supervisor safety (sample item: Enforces safety rules: = .97),
(iv) management's commitment to safety (sample item: Responds to safety concern: = .94),

International Journal of Organisational Behaviour

Volume 17 (4)

(v) satisfaction with safety program (sample item: Effective in reducing injuries: = .86). The
total coefficient alpha score was .89.
Safety compliance denotes the fundamental and essential activities that employees need to
carry out to maintain workplace safety. Items for safety compliance were pooled from the
extant literature. Sample items were: Follow safety procedures regardless of the situation:
= .78 and Use appropriate tools and equipment: = .82.
Accident frequency was measured by participants' responses to the question that asked them
to indicate the number of times they have been involved in accidents in the past 12 months.
All cases were accidents that had resulted in three or more consecutive days of absence and
therefore classified as serious by the safety inspection authorities.
Perceived organizational support refers to the workers general perception of their
organizations contributions and concern for their well-being (Eisenberger et al. 2001). It was
measured with the short version of Eisenberger et als. (1990) survey of POS. The scale
consisted of eight items and assesses workers' evaluations of organizational/management
concern for their well-being. Sample items were: The organization values my contribution to
its well-being: = .79, The organization takes pride in my accomplishments: = .88, and
Help is available from the organization when l have a problem: = .82. Responses to this
scale produced a satisfactory reliability of .97.
Organizational citizenship behaviours refer to discretionary behaviours that go beyond
those formally prescribed by the organization and for which there are no direct rewards
(Organ 1994). OCB was measured with an adapted version of Van Dyne, Graham and
Dieneschs scale (1994). It consisted of 6, 7 and 7 items each on obedience, loyalty and
participation respectively. Each of these three categories included items that describe specific
behaviour relevant to each category: obedience (sample item: Always on time at work,
regardless of circumstances: = .76); loyalty (sample item: Volunteers for overtime work
when needed: = .92, and participation (sample item: Searches for new ideas to improve
operations: = .92. Total coefficient alpha score was .92.
Job satisfaction denotes the degree at which a worker experiences positive affection towards
his/her job. It was measured with Porter and Lawler's (1968) one-item global measure of job
satisfaction. This measure was chosen because single-item measures of overall job
satisfaction have been considered to be as robust as scale measures (Dolbier et al. 2005;
Wanous et al. 1997), and has been used extensively in the organizational behaviour literature
(e.g., Nagy 2002; Gyekye 2005; Gyekye & Salminen 2006). Participants responded to all the
above scales on a five-point scale ranging from 1 = not at all to 5 = very much.
RESULTS
IBM SPSS 20 was used for assessing the psychometric properties of the measures and the
descriptive statistics. In the first analysis, ANOVA indicated differences of statistical significance
in the mean scores on the Workplace Safety Scale (WSS), (F(3, 299) = 7.96, p<0.001). Workers
affiliated with Christianity were the most satisfied with the operational safety structures in their
workplaces. They expressed sanguinity on the ratings on all 5 subscales, and rated highly the
safety contributions of their co-workers (F (3, 289) = 5.21, p<0.01), supervisors (F(3, 205) = 7.44,
p<0.001), and management (F(3, 303) = 5.72, p<0.001). Traditionalists were the least enthusiastic
with workplace safety. Recordings regarding accident frequency were of statistical significance
(F(3, 298) = 7.82, p<0.001).

Workers Religious Aaffiliations and Organizational Behaviour: An Exploratory Study

GA Aymin & M Haybatollahi

Table 1: Descriptive Statistics on WSS, Compliance with Safe Work Procedures, Accident Frequency, POS, OCB and Job Satisfaction
Variables

Christians (n = 211)

Muslims (n = 70)

SD

SD

SD

SD

p-values

154.09

24.76

146.17

24.86

147.68

24.52

144.15

26.86

A. Work safety

21.61

11.59

28.09

12.90

29.53

12.76

25.67

12.25

***

B. Co-worker safety

34.24

7.25

31.16

7.83

30.18

7.59

31.44

7.98

**

C. Supervisor safety

35.98

11.01

29.73

11.64

29.93

11.03

30.43

11.55

***

D. Management safety

30.00

9.31

24.96

9.51

26.34

10.01

25.21

9.76

***

E. Safety programmes

33.88

8.07

31.82

8.05

30.74

8.38

32.41

9.29

ns

2. Compliance with safety policies

21.17

3.16

17.06

4.03

12.35

4.63

10.45

4.33

***

3. Accident frequency

1.54

0.93

2.17

1.23

2.16

1.13

1.96

1.12

***

4. Perceived Organ. Support

28.45

9.19

23.13

9.65

22.15

9.96

24.26

10.35

***

5. Organ. Citizen Behaviour

74.14

16.97

66.70

18.80

65.51

18.44

65.00

19.08

**

A. Obedience

20.49

4.37

18.92

4.76

18.83

4.75

18.50

4.19

B. Loyalty

26.19

6.81

23.14

7.46

22.90

6.83

22.75

7.77

**

C. Participation

27.45

6.53

24.64

7.52

24.03

7.75

23.75

8.04

**

3.51

1.43

3.11

1.43

3.09

1.34

3.29

1.36

1. Workplace Safety Scale

6. Job satisfaction

Notes: *p<0.05, **p<0.01, *** p<0.001; ns = not of statistical significance.

Ratings on WSSA are in reverse order.

Traditionalists (n = 29)

Other religion (n = 10)

International Journal of Organisational Behaviour

Volume 17 (4)

Accident involvement rate was highest among Muslims and Traditionalists, and lowest among
Christians. Christian workers indicated the highest level of organizational support (F(3, 293)
= 8.48, p<0.001), and job satisfaction (F(3, 303) = 3.18, p<0.05). They also were the most
active regarding citizenship behaviours (F(3, 302) = 5.43, p<0.01), with the highest ratings on
obedience (F(3, 302) = 3.57, p<0.05), loyalty (F(3, 303) = 5.31, p<0.01) and participation
(F(3, 303) = 5.27, p<0.01). The degree of involvement by Muslims, Traditionalists and those
of other religious faiths were identical. The preliminary results designated workers affiliated
with Christianity as being more constructive in their organizational performances.
Because educational level and job role have been shown to be confounding variables in
previous research (e.g., Status-attainment Models, Blau & Duncun 1967), Chi-square analysis
was performed to determine if these variables needed to be controlled. As displayed in Table
2, differences between religious affiliations and education (2 = 47.52, df = 9, p<0.001) and
job role (2 = 15.76, df = 3, p<0.001) were highly significant. Workers affiliated with the
Christian faith were the most educated and, consequently, held more middle- and upper- level
managerial positions.
Table 2: Religious affiliation by Job role and Education
Christians
Muslims
Traditionalists
Other religions
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Job role
Supervisors

(n = 80)

Subordinates (n = 240)

67%

15%

10%

8%

43%

24%

24%

9%

(2 = 15.76, df = 3, p<0.001).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Educational background
Basic

(n = 160)

35%

33%

25%

7%

Secondary (n = 96)

35%

24%

29%

12%

Professional (n = 54)

71%

12%

9%

8%

University (n = 10)

88%

12%

0%

0%

(2 = 47.52, df = 9, p<0.001).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Workers Religious Aaffiliations and

Organizational Behaviour: An Exploratory Study

GA Aymin & M Haybatollahi

To examine further, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to test the effect
of religious affiliations within each educational level and each job role. The interaction effect
between education and religion on perceptions of workplace safety was not of statistical
significance (F(7, 223) = 1.38, ns), but was highly significant with the inclusion of job role
(F(20, 205) = 10.84, p<.001). The effect of religion (F(3, 223) = 3.14, p<0.05) and education
(F(3, 223) = 46.46, p<0.001) was statistically significant. Similar observation was made for
accident frequency. The interaction effect of religion x education x job role was highly
significant (F(20, 261) = 12.96, p<0.001), but not for religion and education (F(7, 223) = 1.38,
ns). Meanwhile, the effect of religion (F(3, 282) = 12.10, p<0.001) and education (F(3, 282) =
57.71, p<0.001) indicated differences of statistical significance.
Significant effects were recorded on religion (F(3, 282) = 12.10, p<0.001), education (F(3,
282) = 57.71, p<0.001), and for the three-way religion x education x job role interaction effect
(F(20, 256) = 17.83, p<0.001), but not for the religion x education effect (F(7, 223) = 1.38,
ns). Assessments regarding workers participation in OCB were of statistical significance: the
religion x education x job role effect (F(20, 265) = 17.00, p<0.001), religion x education (F(7,
286) = 2.22, p<0.05), religion (F(3, 286) = 9.70, p<0.001), and education (F(3, 286) = 76.00,
p<0.001). Ratings on job satisfaction indicated significant effects of religion (F(3, 287) =
4.86, p<0.01), education (F(3, 287) = 47.09, p<0.001), and for the religion x education x job
role interaction (F(20, 266) = 10.74, p<0.001), but not for the religion x education interaction
effect (F(7, 287) = 1.34, ns). All in all, the results demonstrated the influence of religion,
education and job roles on the participants behaviours. The effect of educational level and
job roles were notably stronger in every measure than that of religion.
The effect of religiosity was examined via multiple regression analyses. Because religion was
multinumial, it was recoded as a dummy variable with Christianity as the reference category.
Log transformation was applied to smoothen the distribution of accident frequency, as it was
not normally distributed. Multicollinearity statistics did not indicate distortions of results. As
reflected in Tables 3a and b, workers religiosity and educational background were the most
significant variables predicting all components of the orgnaizational behaviours understudy
(p<0.001).
Higher-educated workers had more constructive views regading workplace safety (= .71,
p<0.001), indicated more organizational support (=.59, p<0.001), expressed greater job
satisfaction (=.60, p<0.001), were more compliant with safe work procedures (= .63,
p<0.001), and reported a lower rate of accident frequency (=-.67, p<0.001). As displayed in
Table 3b, they also were the most active in citizenship behaviours OCB (=.68, p<0.001)
(Table 3b). In regards to religiosity, workers with higher attendance at place of worship
indicated more constructive views regarding workplace safety (=.16, p<0.001),
organizational support (=.11, p<0.05), job satisfaction (=.14, p<0.01), and compliance with
safety management policies (= .15, p<0.05). They reported a lower rate of accident
frequency (=-.16, p<0.001), and were also the most active regarding citizenship behaviours
OCB (=.16, p<0.001)(Table 3b).

International Journal of Organisational Behaviour

Volume 17 (4)

Table 3a: Multiple Regression Analyses for Religiosity and Organizational Behavior

Predictor

Education
Job role
Religiosity
Muslim a
Traditional
African
Religion a
No
Religion a
R2
F

WSS

Work
safety

Coworker
safety

.68***

.43***

.57***

.65***

.63***

.51***

.55***

.57***

.60***

-.62***

.01

-.01

.10*

.01

-.01

-.05

.08

.13*

-.02

.00

.16***

.19***

.17***

.14**

.15**

.15**

.11*

.14**

.12*

-.16***

.03

.13*

.01

.00

.05

.01

-.01

.04

.02

-.03

.04

.06

.01

.07

.05

-.02

.03

.04

.02

-.04

-.06

-.01

-.03

-.06

-.06

-.04

-.05

-.04

-.05

.06

.52

.20

.46

.47

.44

.29

.39

.45

.39

.43

118.06***

102.38***

51.04***

84.93***

109.15***

84.13***

101.52***

128.41*** 33.25*** 114.99***

Supervisor Management
Safety
safety
safety
programme

POS

*p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001; values in table are standardized coefficients.

Notes: a. Christianity is the reference group to which other religious groups are compared.
WSS = Workplace Safety Scale (Hayes et al., 1998).
POS = Perceived organizational support

Job
Safety
Accident
Satisfaction Compliance Frequency

Workers Religious Aaffiliations and Organizational Behaviour: An Exploratory Study

GA Aymin & M Haybatollahi

Table 3b: Multiple Regression Analyses for Religiosity and OCB

OCB

Obedience

Loyalty

Participation

.64***

.58***

.65***

.59***

-.01

.03

-.02

-.02

.16***

.11*

.16***

.18***

Muslim a

.04

.06

.03

.02

TARa

.05

.08

.05

.02

No Religion a

-.05

-.02

-.04

-.06

R2

.45

.36

.46

.39

108.80***

76.18***

114.84***

87.13***

Predictor
Education
Job role
Religiosity

*p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001; values in table are standardized coefficients.

Notes: a. Christianity is the reference group to which other religious groups are compared.
OCB = Organizational citizenship behaviors
TAR = Traditional African Religion

10

International Journal of Organisational Behaviour

Volume 17 (4)

Table 4a: Multiple Regression Analysis for Religious Affiliation and Organizational Behavior while controlling for Education and Job
role

Predictor

WSS

Education

.71***

Work
safety

.45***

Coworker
safety

.61***

Supervisor Management
Safety
safety
safety
programme

.68***

POS

Job
Safety
Accident
Satisfaction Compliance Frequency

.68***

.56***

.59***

.60***

.63***

-.67***

Job role

.03

.03

.13**

.02

.01

-.03

.08

.16**

.01

-.01

Muslim a

.01

.10

-.01

-.01

.04

.001

-.02

.03

.01

-.03

.05

-.03

.06
.03

-.04

.03

.04

.03

-.06

Traditional
African
Religion a
No
Religion a
R2
F

.03
-.05

.02

-.05

-.07

-.03

-.07

-.08

-.06

-.06

.03

52

.20

.47

.47

.45

.31

.39

.46

.40

.44

52.49***

47.20***

24.99***

38.69***

51.18***

38.82***

45.71***

56.86**
14.60*** 52.10***
*

*p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001; values in table are standardized coefficients.

Notes: a. Christianity is the reference group to which other religious groups are compared.
WSS = Work Safety Scale (Hayes et al., 1998).
POS = Perceived Organizational Support

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Workers Religious Aaffiliations and Organizational Behaviour: An Exploratory Study

GA Aymin & M Haybatollahi

Table 4b: Multiple Regression Analyses for Religious Affiliation and OCB while controlling for Education and Job role
OCB

Obedience

Loyalty

Participation

.68***

.60***

.69***

.63***

Job role

.01

.05

-.004

.002

Muslim a

.02

.05

.02

.01

Trad. African Rel. a

.04

.09

.03

.01

No Religion a

-.08

-.07

-.08

-.09

R2

.46

.38

.47

.40

50.74***

35.93***

53.23***

40.29***

Predictor
Education

*p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001; values in table are standardized coefficients.

Notes: a. Christianity is the reference group to which other religious groups are compared.
OCB = Organizational citizenship behaviors

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In the final analyses, the effects of education and job role were controlled and disentagled. As
reflected on Tables 4a and b, differences in organizational behaviours between the three religious
groups were not of satistical significance.
DISCUSSION
The study explored the organizational behaviour of Ghanaian industrial workers affiliated with
Christianity, Islam and Traditional African Religion. As indicated by the preliminary results,
workers affiliated with Christianity rated highest on all the scales. They were the most content with
the safety levels in their workplaces and recorded the least accident frequency. They expressed the
highest level of organizational support, were the most active in citizenship behaviours, and the most
satisfied with workplace conditions. These results, which designated workers affiliated with
Christianity as being more active in organizational behaviours could be reasonably explained by the
fact that most of them were relatively highly educated, occupied prestigious positions as middle
management staff, supervisors and unit leaders. They therefore had privileges and access to
amenities that were denied their counterparts. These certainly impacted positively on their levels of
job satisfaction, and consequently, on other organizational behaviours.
Under such conditions, they had regarded their stress-free job assignments and privileges as some
token of organizational support (Eisenberger et al. 2001), and reciprocated1 their organizations by
actively participation in citizenship behaviours (Gyekye & Salminen 2005; Eisenberger et al. 2001).
Such reciprocals are basically conscious, ethically based acts, specifically done to return
appreciation to the employer for providing a satisfying work environment. In contrast, workers
affiliated with the other religious groups who were mostly subordinates and relatively less educated,
had been assigned heavy workload with little or no privileges, and might have interpreted their
predicaments as lack of organizational support. This had led to the observed lower levels of job
satisfaction and the subsequent apathy in citizenship behaviours. Additionally, by dent of their
educational background, workers affiliated with Christianity had moved to safer jobs as they gained
seniority. This had reduced their exposure to risky and hazardous work conditions. This is
evidenced particularly by their positive perspectives regarding workplace safety and relatively
lower perceptions of inherent danger in their job assignments (Gyekye & Salminen 2005).
Apparently, with the relevant occupational knowledge and expertise, workers affiliated with
Christianity had displayed acumen and discretion, recognised situational contingencies, carefully
appraised them and avoided disaster. By contrast, their colleagues affiliated with Islam and
Traditional African Religion might have been less careful and cautious. Safety reports have
confirmed that individuals with Islamic and Traditional African religious backgrounds have
displayed fatalistic attitudes (Gyekye 2001) and indulged in higher degrees of risk-taking behaviour
(Kouabenan 1998; Peltzer & Renner 2003), which increased their vulnerability in both traffic
(Peltzer & Renner 2003) and workplace accidents (Gyekye 2001; Gyekye & Salminen 2007).
The contention that the current observation can be explained, at least in part, by educational
attainment is reinforced by the close association between religious commitment and higher
educational achievement (see review by Jeynes 2001). That Traditionalists and Muslims tend to be
relatively less educated than their Christian counterparts has been noted by Ghanaian sociologists

According to the Social Exchange Theory (Blau 1964), workers who are content with job conditions and perceive a
high level of organizational support have felt a sense of indebtedness and a need to reciprocate in terms that benefit
their organizations. Such reciprocals include pro-social organizational behaviours and active participation in extra-role
activities.

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Workers Religious Aaffiliations and

Organizational Behaviour: An Exploratory Study

GA Aymin & M Haybatollahi

Takyi & Addai (2002) and succinctly corroborated in the current study. The possibility thus exists
that Christian workers were more responsive to the western measures that were used in the analyses.
Ghanaian sociologists (e.g., Yirenkyi 2000) 2 have noted the influence which Western religious
teachings has had on Ghana's educational system, as most of the reputable educational institutions
were established by western religious denominations. The current observation is consistent with
previous research reports linking education to job performance. They show that in addition to
positively influencing the core task performance, education level is also positively and significantly
related to creativity and citizenship behaviours (Ng & Feldman 2009), safety perception and safe
work behaviours (Gyekye & Salminen, 2009), and negatively related to counterproductive
performance (Ng & Feldman 2009) and accident frequency (Gyekye & Salminen 2009).
Interestingly, the final analyses in which the effects of education and job role were disentangled
revealed striking similarity between the work-related values of all three religious groups. The
research data indicated a positive relationship between religiosity and organizational behaviour.
Adherents, irrespective of religious orientation, who participated actively in their religious activities
indicated more pro-organizational behaviours. This positive association has been noted in earlier
studies: Holcom and his colleagues (1993) recorded a decrease in workplace accident frequency for
workers with high church attendance, and Sikorsa-Simmons (2005) reported a strong association
between religiosity and job satisfaction. Apparently, doctrinal issues seem to be the influential
factor here, as workers might have been inspired by the moral ethics of their faith. All three
religious groups and their consequent religious beliefs incorporate strong teachings about the value
of work and appropriate work behaviours. As a result, their followers displayed more proorganizational behaviours and were less likely to contravene work / organizational ethical
behaviours.
The proposition that individuals identifying with religious groups are more likely to live by the
values and adhere to the norms of the religious group is a well established argument in the extant
literature (Chusmir & Koberg 1988; Milliman et al. 2003; Kutcher et al. 2010). According to the
personality and values theory, the identification one makes concerning religious affiliation and or
strength of religious conviction likely becomes part of ones self-identity and personality (Rokeach
1968). This is more the case when devotees are intrinsically oriented in their beliefs and live the
religious doctrines they adhere to (Allport & Ross 1967). It therefore appears to be that participants
in the study were principally intrinsically oriented in their religious beliefs and had translated their
religious doctrines to their work practices. Since it is generally well-accepted in organizational
behaviour theory that personalities and values are critical factors in predicting behaviour in
organizations (Kutcher et al. 2010; Chusmir & Koberg 1988), it comes as no surprise that members
of all three religious groups displayed equal altruistic values and organizational behaviours when
the effects of education and job role were eliminated in the analyses. The current observation is
generally consistent with earlier studies that have examined the relationship between religious
affiliations and job-related attitudes and found no significant differences between the religious
groups studied (e.g., Chusmir & Koberg 1988; Kutcher et al. 2010), and reports that have found
religious doctrines to influence considerably devotees social and organizational behaviour (e.g.,
Allport & Ross 1967; Ntalians & Darr 2005; Lynn et al. 2011).
Safety implications and directions for further studies
The current findings are important from a practical standpoint. The available data reemphasises the
vulnerability of Traditionalists and Muslims to industrial and traffic accidents, and the need for
2

According to Ghanaian sociologists, the main goals of the Western missions were to convert Africans (Ghanaians) to
Christianity through formal education. To achieve this end, they instilled into their converts their religious doctrines and
also assimilated them into the Western ideals and thinking.

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International Journal of Organisational Behaviour

Volume 17 (4)

safety programmes specifically designed for them. An integrated approach of education,

enforcement and engineering controls will best protect them from accidents and injuries. Secondly,
efforts could be directed towards improving the levels at which various workers perceive that they
are being supported, appreciated and rewarded by their organizations. The literature on POS is
satiated with such organizational structures. Prominent examples are implementing fairness
perception measures and showing commitment to workers beyond that which is formally stated in
the contractual agreement (e.g., Eisenberger et al. 2001).
The primary strength of the study is its empirical disposition as participants were authentic
workplace workers. While these results are encouraging, it is also important to consider that the
study is reliant on self-reported instruments. There is therefore the possibility for common method
variance among some of the scales. The promise of anonymity and confidentiality would expectedly
lower this possibility. Meta-analytic research by Crampton and Wagner (1994) indicates that while
this problem continues to be cited regularly, the magnitude of distortions is rather minimal. Selfreported measures have been successfully used in studies on religion (Milliman et al. 2003; Lynn et
al. 2011) and safety analyses (e.g., Gyekye & Salminen 2009). The current findings extend previous
research by revealing that religious attitudes and practices not only improve job attitudes, but also
relate to actual workplace behaviours. It thus contributes to the literature on how religious belief
and practice integrate with work. More importanatly, it provides insights into organizational
behaviour of over 95% of Africas population. However, generalization of the findings should be
done with caution. As this study is among the first attempts to examine the impact of religiosity on
organizational behaviours, additional investigations are recommended. Comparative analyses
involving workers with and without religious affiliations will be in order and therefore advocated.
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