The Work Values of Western and Tribal Black Employees

Abstract

The difference between the work values of Western-oriented and tribal-oriented black employees, as well as the relationship between work values and job satisfaction, was examined in a sample of black supervisors in South Africa, who completed a locally derived measure of modernization, the Brayfield-Rothe index of job satisfaction and the Survey of Work Values (Protestant Ethic). On the basis of their modernization scores and the length of time they had spent in a city or town of "'white" South Africa, the sample was divided into Western and tribal subgroups. The Western subgroup accepted most of the tenets of the Protestant Ethic significantly more than the tribal subgroup. In both subgroups the relation between the Protestant Ethic and job satisfaction was positive. The results are explained in terms of the different cultural backgrounds of the two subgroups.