Religious Groups and Work Values:

A Focus on Buddhism, Christianity,
Hinduism, and Islam

K. Praveen Parboteeah: University of Wisconsin–Whitewater, USA
Yongsun Paik: Loyola Marymount University, USA
John B. Cullen: Washington State University, USA

ABSTRACT

Although the existing literature contends that religious beliefs have a strong
impact on work values, few studies have examined the relationship. Given the sustained importance of religion in most societies and the growing diversity of the US population, companies are finding an increasing need to understand religion in the workplace. The current research uses data from 44,030 individuals in 39 countries to investigate the influence of the world’s four major religions, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam on extrinsic and intrinsic work values. Controlling for important variables such as age, gender, and education, results generally support the posited hypotheses, confirming that religion is positively related to work values. Specifically, we find that all religions except Christianity show a positive relationship with extrinsic work values. Furthermore, we find that all four religions show a positive relationship with intrinsic work values. We also find that those who report no religious affiliation also view work values positively. We suggest that these results are perhaps a result of the converging effects of globalization. This article makes an important contribution to the literature by examining a large sample covering the world’s major religions. The findings suggest that most religions view work in a positive light. Such findings are important as more multinationals attempt to manage an increasingly diverse workforce worldwide.

Key words: extrinsic work values, intrinsic work values, religions

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