Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which religiosity and spirituality affected daily work practices and leader/follower trust levels in foodservice and nutrition directors and their subordinates. A similar 72-item survey questionnaire was developed for both the directors and employees, which was completed by 129 directors and 530 employees. Both questionnaires contained questions on demographics, religious influences on work practices, trust characteristics, and three validated measures of religiosity: 1) worship service attendance (1=Religiosity Score), 2) influence of spiritual beliefs on daily life, and 3) frequency of prayer (2 + 3=Spirituality Score). Frequency data was gathered for all questions. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Pearson's Correlation were used to assess the relationship of directors' and employees' Religiosity and Spirituality Scores compared to their daily work practices and trust levels. Two-sample t-tests evaluated differences in directors' and employees' perceived trust levels toward each other.

Most directors and employees were women and Caucasian. Most of the directors and employees had earned a Master's degree and bachelor's degree, respectively. The religion most frequently reported was Protestant. Data analysis of the Religiosity and Spirituality Scores and demographics showed some differences in ethnic group, gender, age, and education level, although there was no consistently identified trend.

Well over one-third of directors (40.3%) and employees (36.3%) attended worship services at least four times the previous month. The more directors and employees attended worship services, the more likely they were to demonstrate specific spiritual actions and attitudes at work. Generally, religiosity and spirituality did not appear to influence perceived trustworthiness in directors and employees. However, both directors and employees were rated as being highly trustworthy by their counterpart(s). Directors and employees tend to over-rate their own trustworthiness when compared to ratings by the opposite discipline. Degree of religiosity and spirituality did not consistently affect the way directors and employees rated each others' trustworthiness though it was related to how they perceived their own trustworthiness. Directors expected that their employees were more committed to their jobs than they actually were.

Degree

MS

College and Department

Life Sciences; Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Science

Rights

http://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/

Date Submitted

2004-07-08

Document Type

Thesis

Handle

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/etd479

Keywords

religiosity, religious beliefs, spirituality, spiritual beliefs, religion in the workplace, spirituality in the workplace, trust, employee committment, nutrition departments

Language

English

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