The Work Ethic in Australia and Sri Lanka

This study examined the belief in a Protestant work ethic in Australia and Sri Lanka. Australians are identified as individualistic and are expected to have a strong belief in a work ethic. Sri Lanka, a developing country, is largely collectivistic and economically depressed. On the basis of existin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of social psychology 1994-02, Vol.134 (1), p.55-59
Main Author: Niles, F. Sushila
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic Achievement
Achievement Need
Australia
Beliefs
Biological and medical sciences
College Students
Comparison
Correlation
Cross cultural studies
Developing countries
Ethics
Ethnic Groups
Evidence
Factor Analysis
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gender
Gender Differences
Human Relations
LDCs
Motivation
Motivation. Job satisfaction. Attitude
Occupational psychology
Periodicals
Protestant Ethic
Protestant work ethic
Protestantism
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Psychometrics
Questionnaires
Reliability
Resistance (Psychology)
Semantics
Social psychology
Social research
Sri Lanka
Student Attitudes
Success
Work ethic
Work Values
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Summary:This study examined the belief in a Protestant work ethic in Australia and Sri Lanka. Australians are identified as individualistic and are expected to have a strong belief in a work ethic. Sri Lanka, a developing country, is largely collectivistic and economically depressed. On the basis of existing evidence concerning achievement motivation (McClelland's 1961 thesis), Sri Lankans' belief in a work ethic should be low. Recent evidence, however, suggests otherwise. The results of this study indicate that Sri Lankan university students have as strong a belief in a work ethic as Australians have, when work ethic is defined as a belief that hard work will lead to success. When work ethic is defined as a need for mastery, however, Sri Lankans seem less committed. This finding suggests the need to redefine the concept of work ethic to reflect differences in beliefs in varying cultures. It also alerts researchers comparing different cultures to the problems of transportability of concepts and scales.
ISSN:0022-4545
1940-1183
DOI:10.1080/00224545.1994.9710883