Faith in god influences workplace conduct

Does our faith in god and the frequency of attending religious sermons influence our workplace behaviour? Yes, claims a new study.

But the extent of influence depends in part on how involved that person is in the congregation, according to a study by Baylor University sociologists.

"We already knew that about 60 percent of American adults are affiliated with congregations, but we wanted to delve into whether that carries over from weekend worship services to the work day," said Jerry Z. Park, associate professor of sociology at Baylor's College of Arts & Sciences.

"It turns out it does make some difference in their attitudes at work. That means it has a potential 'payoff' not only for employers, but for employees themselves," Park added.

Researchers asked a random sample of full-time employees if they attended a place of worship, and if so, they were then asked whether their congregation emphasised integrating their faith in the workplace through "sacrificial love" to their co-workers, sensing god's presence at work among others.

What seemed to make the difference, researchers found, was frequent attendance at a church that stressed a merge of faith and work.

Simply being at such a congregation - or just attending any church - did not result in greater work satisfaction or dedication.

The researchers' analysis was based on the National Survey of Work, Entrepreneurship and Religion, a 2010 Web-based survey of 1,022 full time workers.

Workplace attitudes such as job commitment also were evaluated by a variety of items that asked how much participants felt like "part of the family" at their organisation, how efficiently they get proposed actions through "bureaucratic red tape" and whether they "went to bat" for good ideas of co-workers.

The analysis was published in the journal Sociology of Religion.