Work Values and Subjective Beliefs in Arabian Gulf Samples of Employees and Undergraduates

Abstract

For 236 college students hierarchical structures of socially and personally desirable work values and subjective beliefs were studied and hierarchical structure of socially desirable values of a group of 96 public employees was also examined. Buchholz's 1978 Beliefs About Work Inventory was used to measure the socially desirable values of both students and employees. Measures based on the guidelines set by Ajzen and Fishbein in 1980 were used to measure the personally desirable values and subjective beliefs of the students only. The results showed that the relative importance assigned to the various socially desirable values by both students and employees were similar. The relative importance assigned by the students to the three belief systems, i.e., the socially and personally desirable values and the subjective beliefs were also similar with the exception of one belief system—Hard Work. Specifically, Hard Work was strongly endorsed as a socially desirable value but weakly endorsed as a personally desirable one. In general, the groups assigned more importance to Humanistic and Group-oriented values while the least importance was assigned to Leisure Ethic. Participative, Advancement, Independence, Earning, and Social Status were assigned moderate importance. The results were discussed in the context of the Arab culture and the present practices of Arabian Gulf organizations.