WORKERS’ RELIGIOUS AFFILIATIONS AND ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY

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.