Development, Validation and Testing of an Islamic Work Ethic Scale

Despite the varying levels of religiosity held by employees, in many cases representing deeply held beliefs, religiosity is usually overlooked and ignored in research in organizational behaviour and human resource management. In light of this paradox, the aim of this study is to further develop Ali’s (1988) Islamic work ethic (IWE) scale using conventional psychometric methods (Hinkin, 1995). Following theoretical development, item generation and testing of an item pool with 643 lecturers at a university in Kurdistan, the item pool was reduced to 24 items to produce a balanced multidimensional scale. The four dimensions are Work and Society, Justice, Self-Motivation and Work Principles capture the IWE scale which fits with the two resources of IWE construct (Quran and teachings of the Prophet (PBUH)).

To provide evidence for scale validity, and drawing on social exchange and reciprocity theory, the relationships between the Islamic ethics scale, job satisfaction, affective, normative and continuance commitment and organisational citizenship behaviour were hypothesised and tested. Findings suggest that the Islamic work ethic plays a significant role in Islamic work settings and that the Islamic work ethic may change some widely reported relationships between variables observed in Western contexts. Findings reveal that the Islamic work ethic is a stronger predictor of citizenship behaviour than affective commitment and job satisfaction and is consistent with a strong influence of Islam on all aspects of Muslim life.