The Meaning and Measurement of Work Ethic: Construction and Initial Validation of a Multidimensional Inventory

This monograph presents a brief historical and conceptual review of the work ethic construct, suggests a general conceptual definition of work ethic, and reports a series of empirical studies to construct and evaluate a new multidimensional measure of work ethic. The Multidimensional Work Ethic Profile (MWEP) is a 65-item inventory that measures seven conceptually and empirically distinct facets of the work ethic construct. A series of six studies, using both student and nonstudent samples, examined the psychometric properties of the MWEP. The first study replicates previous research demonstrating the multidimensionality of the work ethic construct. The second study describes the construction and initial psychometric evaluation of the MWEP. The third study examines relations between the MWEP subscales as well as relations with measures of general cognitive ability, personality, and manifest needs. The fourth study examines the generalizability of the MWEP from a student sample to a nonstudent working sample. The fifth study provides further evidence about the generalizability of the MWEP to an organizational sample and examines the relations of the MWEP subscales to other organizationally relevant attitudinal variables (i.e., job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and job involvement). Finally, the sixth study examines the criterion-related validity of the MWEP scales in an organizational context. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

企业员工工作伦理的结构

采用自行研制的工作伦理问卷, 通过对全国8个城市955名员工、6所高校508名在校大学生以及两大军区461名现役军人进行问卷调查, 对企业员工工作伦理的因素结构进行了探讨。探索性因素分析(n=478)表明, 企业员工工作伦理由职业操守、工作意义、勤奋奉献、积极进取和人际和谐5个维度构成。验证性因素分析(n=477)结果表明五因素模型是比较理想的模型。复核效化检验结果表明, 基于企业员工样本得到的工作伦理五因素结构在大学生样本(n=508)和军人样本(n=461)中具有一定程度的稳定性与预测力。文章最后对企业员工工作伦理维度的构成和内容进行了分析讨论。     

Work Ethic and Work Outcomes in an Expanded Criterion Domain

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between dimensions of work ethic and dimensions of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and counterproductive work behavior (CWB).

Design/Methodology/Approach

Data were collected from employed individuals in MBA and undergraduate management courses and their work supervisors (N = 233). Participants represented diverse occupations with respect to job levels and industries. Participants completed the work ethic inventory, and participants’ managers completed ratings of OCB and CWB.

Findings

The work ethic dimension of centrality of work was positively related to both dimensions of OCB (i.e., OCB-I and OCB-O), and the work ethic dimension of morality/ethics was negatively related to one of the dimensions of CWB (i.e., CWB-I).

Implications

Modern perspectives on job performance recognize the multidimensional nature of the domain (i.e., the expanded criterion domain). In addition, noncognitive predictors such as work ethic have value as individual differences that are associated with performance outcomes. The assessment of such constructs can help inform selection and placement activities where a focus on OCB and CWB is important to managers.

Originality/Value

This study provides additional evidence on the relationship between work ethic and performance outcomes. Previous research has provided limited information on the relationship between dimensions of work ethic and dimensions of OCB, and no information existed on the relationship between work ethic dimensions and CWB.

     

Meaningful Work and Affective Commitment: A Moderated Mediation Model of Positive Work Reflection and Work Centrality

Empirical research on both meaningful work and organizational commitment has been criticized because research in both fields is largely unsystematic. By integrating the cognitive appraisal theory and identity theory into the meaningful work and affective commitment literatures, we examined the mediating role of positive work reflection (study 1 and study 2) and the moderating role of work centrality (study 2) in the relation between meaningful work and affective commitment. We conducted two independent studies with two-wave data to examine our hypotheses through mediation and moderated mediation bootstrapping procedures. Both study 1 and study 2 found that positive work reflection mediated the relationship between meaningful work and affective commitment. In addition, study 2 revealed that the positive relationship between meaningful work and affective commitment was stronger for those who place less importance on work (i.e., low work centrality). The meaningful nature of one’s work may motivate those who view work as peripheral to recall positive moments of their work, which, in turn, impacts their affective commitment to the organization. Thus, in order to increase affective commitment, promoting meaningful work might be particularly important for those with low work centrality. This is one of the first studies to examine positive work reflection as a cognitive pathway linking meaningful work to affective commitment and identify a boundary condition where meaningful work may not be associated with affective commitment for those who are high in work centrality.     

Work ethic and organizational commitment as conditions of unethical pro‐organizational behavior: Do engaged workers break the ethical rules?

Unethical pro‐organizational behaviors (UPB) are actions that break rules or established standards, but are undertaken for the purposes of helping the organization or coworkers. Although research has already examined the role of work ethic and organizational commitment in shaping employee behaviors, little is known about the reason for and antecedents of employees undertaking UPB. In a sample of 425 working adults from multiple industries, we tested whether work ethic and organizational commitment dimensions predict the readiness to undertake UPB. The time‐lagged study showed that the work ethics dimension “hard work,” and normative and affective organizational commitment, are positive predictors of UPB. The ethics dimensions “morality/ethics,” “delay of gratification,” “centrality of work” and “anti‐leisure attitudes” are negative predictors of UPB.     

Work ethic and grit: An examination of empirical redundancy

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between work ethic and grit. Several direct relationships were examined at the dimension and broader construct-level, as well as each variable's relationships with external variables. Work ethic and grit were moderately correlated at the broader construct-level, both related to conscientiousness, and several dimensions of the constructs were related. Work ethic explained significant incremental variance in job satisfaction and turnover intentions above and beyond grit. However, grit explained incremental variance in stress above and beyond work ethic. Study implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.     

Using a person-environment fit model to predict job involvement and organizational commitment

Using a sample of registered nurses from a large urban hospital, this longitudinal study tested the applicability of a person-environment fit model for predicting job involvement and organizational commitment. The personal variables in this model were Protestant work ethic and growth need strength, and the environmental variable was perceived job scope. Prior to testing the person-environment fit model, the discriminant validity of job involvement and organizational commitment scales was empirically established through factor analysis. The results of this study indicated that the proposed person-environment fit model is useful for predicting job involvement, but not organizational commitment. Results and limitations of the study are discussed.     

Concept Redundancy and Rater Naivety in Organizational Research

The validity of five work commitment concepts is assessed via content analysis. The role of rater naivety (i.e., familiarity) with the concepts and measures used is also evaluated. Organizational commitment and Protestant work ethic were found to be least redundant. Naive raters demonstrated more redundancy than raters familiar with the concepts and measures. The implications of these findings for the study of work commitment and organizational research in general are discussed.     

Career Commitment: A Reexamination and an Extension

Compared to the other forms of work commitment, there is a paucity of research on career commitment. In this article, the authors seek to address this relative gap in the literature by building on previous research on the correlates and antecedents of career commitment and adding “new” variables to the framework. More specifically, they investigate the effects of a few previously studied factors such as job involvement, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction, and they add two more individual factors (need for achievement and work ethic) as well as some situational variables (organizational uncertainty/fear of job loss and job fit) that, to the best of their knowledge, have not been investigated in previous research. Furthermore, they examine the effects of extra-work variables (family involvement and number of dependents) on career commitment. Finally, they control for a number of key demographic variables. The authors find considerable support for the hypotheses that job involvement, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction are positively related to career commitment and find some support for a similar effect for need for achievement and work ethic. Furthermore, as predicted, fear of losing one's job was negatively related to career commitment, whereas “job fit” was positively related. The extra-work variables did not have any significant effects on career commitment. The implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

工作与德性

在社会公共生活日益扩张的今天,工作伦理成为社会价值的源点。工作伦理因其可操作性的践行力,命令性的强制力和广泛的辐射力使其强化了员工的责任意识、营造了良好的社会道德环境并改变着员工的道德思维、养成着良好的德性修养。加强工作伦理建设是社会道德改善的最有效途径。     

Generational Differences in Work Ethic: An Examination of Measurement Equivalence Across Three Cohorts

Purpose  

The purpose of this study was to examine the differences across three generational cohorts (Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers) on dimensions of the work ethic construct using the multidimensional work ethic profile (MWEP).     

Work related beliefs and human values

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between various work beliefs (e.g. work and leisure ethic, Marxist beliefs, work involvement) and various general human (terminal and instrumental) values (Rokeach Value Survey). Over two-hundred and fifty adults completed six questionnaires measuring work and social beliefs as well as human values. Product-moment correlations showed that work ethic and organizational beliefs were most clearly linked to both terminal and instrumental values. Overall it seemed that work beliefs related most closely to the instrumental rather than the terminal values. A world at peace, equality and pleasure were the terminal values most closely related to the various work beliefs while clean, imaginative, obedient and polite were the instrumental values most closely related to the work beliefs. These results are closely related to those of Fether (1984) who used an Australian student sample. Speculations concerning the relationship between values, work beliefs and economic development are made.     

Work Values and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors: Values That Work for Employees and Organizations

This study examines the question: Why would an employee engage in work that enhances organizational performance but is not necessarily recognized or rewarded by his or her employer? This study suggests that this question can be answered in part by the degree to which an employee endorses the Protestant work ethic (PWE). The relationship between the PWE and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) is analyzed using two separate survey data samples. Findings support a positive and significant relationship between OCB and two dimensions of the PWE, hard work and independence.     

The Role of the Relationship with Parents with Respect to Work Orientation and Work Ethic

We examined the extent to which individual relationships with mother and father, social support from partner, and quality of the relationship with the partner, are related to work orientation and work ethic. Survey data were obtained from 3841 respondents from the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study (wave 2). The results showed that, overall, people with a more positive relationship with their parents had a more positive work orientation and a stronger work ethic. A positive relationship with the father had a greater influence on these work aspects than a positive relationship with the mother, particularly for men. Partner support and the quality of the partner relationship partially mediated the association between the relationship with one's parents and work orientation only for women. There were no significant relationships between partner support or the quality of the partner relationship, and work ethic. Research on the relationship with parents and work-related variables is discussed.     

Scaling an Islamic Work Ethic

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to construct scales to measure the Islamic work ethic and individualism and to provide evidence of these scales' reliability and validity. Three steps were involved: a literature search to develop statements pertaining to the Islamic work ethic and individualism; screening of the initial statements by Islamic experts; and actual administration of the refined statements to a sample of 150 Arab students. The results of a reliability test and correlation analysis indicated that both scales were reliable and that the Islamic Work Ethic Scale was positively and significantly correlated with the Individualism Scale.     

Feeling Committed to Work: How Specific Forms of Work-Commitment Predict Work Behavior and Performance Over Time

Previous research revealed that commitment to more specific foci than the organization as a whole is better suited to predict specific employee behaviors. We extend this research by proposing and evaluating specific forms of work commitment that are applicable across a broad range of work situations: work-group, work-content, and work-results commitment. Two studies (N ₁ = 16,389; N ₂ = 482) supported the distinction between these forms of work commitment, in addition to affective and continuance organizational commitment. Corroborating our predictions, organizational commitment predicted organizational turnover intentions and actual turnover, whereas the three forms of work commitment substantially improved the prediction of self-reported (Study 1) and objective (Study 2) measures of internal mobility and job performance over time.     

组织中的工作伦理研究概况

工作伦理是指员工在组织中对职权行为和人际互动的价值判断,包括个体的态度和价值观以及反映这些态度和价值的外在行为。文章从工作伦理的概念形成、结构与测量、相关实证研究、跨文化比较研究等5个方面,对目前组织中工作伦理的研究现状进行了介绍和评价。文章最后指出了工作伦理的未来研究趋势     

American College Students and the Protestant Work Ethic

Abstract

The concept of the Protestant work ethic (PWE), originally proposed by Weber (1958), was examined in a study of 422 American college students. Although the PWE has been heavily studied, no definitive conclusions have been reached regarding its genesis and whether it is dispositional in nature or more heavily reliant on demographic variations. Mirels and Garrett's (1971) PWE Scale was used to measure the ethic. The authors hypothesized that older, graduate, and non-American students would express a greater belief in the ethic. The results indicated that it was the younger, undergraduate, and non-American students who expressed greater belief in the PWE.     

编辑职业道德三题

编辑职业道德是编辑从业人员在职业活动中应该遵循的行为准则。编辑职业工作的成果及其社会效益的特殊性,决定了编辑职业道德是编辑职业工作的灵魂。     

Work–family conflict,perceived supervisor support and organizational commitment among Brazilian professionals

The current study examines a variety of relationships pertaining to work–family conflict among a sample of Brazilian professionals, in order to shed light on work–family issues in this cultural context. Drawing from the cultural values of Brazil and social identity theory, we examine the relationships of two directions of work–family conflict (work interference with family and family interference with work), perceived supervisor support, and sex with affective and continuance organizational commitment. Work interference with family was related to higher continuance commitment and perceived supervisor support was related to higher affective commitment. An interaction between family interference with work and perceived supervisor support predicting continuance commitment revealed a reverse buffering effect such that the relationship was stronger under conditions of high support. Results are discussed within the Brazilian context.