Individual spirituality, workplace spirituality and work attitudes: An empirical test of direct and interaction effects

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the direct effects of three workplace spirituality aspects – meaning in work, community at work, and positive organizational purpose – and individual spirituality on three work attitudes – job satisfaction, job involvement, and organizational commitment. It also seeks to examine the interactive effects of these three workplace spirituality aspects and individual spirituality on these three work attitudes.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper briefly outlines the existing workplace spirituality research, indicates the required research and places this study in that backdrop. It then outlines theory building for specifying a set of hypotheses. It uses data from a sample of managerial level employees from India to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The study results provided considerable support for the hypothesized relationships between workplace spirituality aspects and work attitudes but not for the hypothesized relationships between individual spirituality and work attitudes. The results provided only marginal support for the interactive effect model, which hypothesized that individual spirituality will moderate the effect of workplace spirituality aspects on work attitudes.

Research limitations/implications

Research implications of the findings outlined in this paper will encourage research to link various organizational topics such as leadership with workplace spirituality. They also highlight the need to examine more complex models to examine joint effects of workplace spirituality and individual spirituality on work attitudes.

Practical implications

The findings can provide some relevant inputs for leadership actions and organization development efforts aimed at implementing workplace spirituality in organizations.

Originality/value

The paper's value partly comes from the outlined research and practice implications.

Citation

Shankar Pawar, B. (2009), "Individual spirituality, workplace spirituality and work attitudes: An empirical test of direct and interaction effects", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 30 No. 8, pp. 759-777. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437730911003911