Skip to main content
Intended for healthcare professionals
Restricted access
Research article
First published February 2007

Examining Work Ethic Across Populations: A Comparison of the Multidimensional Work Ethic Profile Across Three Diverse Cultures

Abstract

The authors examined the measurement equivalence of the Multidimensional Work Ethic Profile (MWEP) across the diverse cultures of Korea, Mexico, and the United States. Korean- and Spanish-language versions of the MWEP were developed and evaluated relative to the original English version of the measure. Confirmatory factor analytic results indicated measurement invariance across samples drawn from each country. Further analyses indicated potential substantive differences for some of the seven subscales of the MWEP across samples. The implications of these findings and directions for future research are presented.

Get full access to this article

View all access and purchase options for this article.

References

Bagozzi, R. P., & Heatherton, T. T. (1994). A general approach to representing multi-faceted personality constructs: Application to self-esteem. Structural Equation Modeling, 1, 35-67.
Bentler, P. M. (1990). Comparative fit indexes in structural models. Psychological Bulletin, 107, 238-246.
Bernstein, I. H., & Teng, G. (1989). Factoring items and factoring scales are different: Spurious evidence for multidimensionality due to item categorization. Psychological Bulletin, 105, 467-477.
Brislin, R. W. (1986). The wording and translation of research instruments. In W. J. Lonner & J. W. Berry (Eds.), Field methods in cross-cultural research (pp. 137-164). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Browne, M. W., & Cudeck, R. (1993). Alternative ways of assessing model fit. In K. A. Bollen & J. S. Long (Eds.), Testing of structural equation models (pp. 136-162). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Byrne, E. F. (1990). Work, inc.: A philosophical inquiry. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Charlton, W., Mallinson, T., & Oakeshott, R. (1986). The Christian response to industrial capitalism. London: Sheed & Ward.
Cheung, G. W., & Rensvold, R. B. (2002). Evaluating goodness-of-fit indexes for testing measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling, 9, 233-255.
Central Intelligence Agency. (2004). The world fact book. Retrieved April 20, 2003, from http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ks.html
Fan, X., & Thompson, B. (2001). Confidence intervals about score reliability coefficients, please: An EPM guidelines editorial. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 61, 517-531.
Fine, R. (1983). The Protestant ethic and the analytic ideal. Political Psychology, 4, 245-264.
Furnham, A. (1990a). A content, correlational, and factor analytic study of seven questionnaire measures of the Protestant work ethic. Human Relations, 43, 383-399.
Furnham, A. (1990b). The Protestant work ethic: The psychology of work-related beliefs and behaviours. London: Routledge.
Gibbons, R., & Hocevar, D. (1998). Levels of aggregation in higher level confirmatory factor analysis: Application for academic self-concept. Structural Equation Modeling, 5, 377-390.
Green, A. W. (1968). Sociology: An analysis of life in modern society. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Grieco, E. M., & Cassidy, R. C. (2001). Census 2000 brief: Overview of race and Hispanic origin (C2KBR/01-1). Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau.
Hall, R. J., Snell, A. F., & Foust, M. S. (1999). Item parceling strategies in SEM: Investigating the subtle effects of unmodeled secondary constructs. Organizational Research Methods, 2, 233-256.
Henson, R. K., & Thompson, B. (2002). Characterizing measurement error in scores across studies: Some recommendations for conducting “reliability generalization” studies. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 35, 113-127.
Hofstede, G. (1991). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind. Berkshire, UK: McGraw-Hill.
Hui, C. H., & Triandis, H. C. (1985). Measurement in cross-cultural psychology: A review and comparison of strategies. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 16, 131-152.
Jones, H. B. (1997). The protestant ethic: Weber’s model and the empirical literature. Human Relations, 50, 757-778.
Jøreskog, K. G. (1971). Simultaneous factor analysis in several populations. Psychometrika, 36, 409-426.
Jøreskog, K. G., & Sørbom, D. (2001). LISREL 8.50 [Computer software]. Chicago: Scientific Software International.
Landis, R. S., Beal, D. J., & Tesluk, P. E. (2000). A comparison of approaches to forming composite measures in structural equation models. Organizational Research Methods, 3, 186-207.
Lehmann, H. (1993). The rise of capitalism: Weber versus Sombart. In H. Lehmann & G. Roth (Eds.), Weber’s Protestant ethic: Origins, evidence, contexts (pp. 195-208). Washington, DC: Cambridge University Press.
Lessnoff, M. H. (1994). The spirit of capitalism and the Protestant ethic: An enquiry into the Weber thesis. Brookfield, VT: Edward Elgar.
Maccoby, M. (1983). The managerial work ethic in America. In J. Barbash, R. J. Lapman, S. A. Levitan, & G. Tyler (Eds.), The work ethic—A critical analysis (pp. 183-196). Madison, WI: Industrial Relations Research Association.
McDonald, R. P. (1989). An index of goodness-of-fit based on non-centrality. Journal of Classification, 6, 97-103.
Miller, M. J., Woehr, D. J., & Hudspeth, N. (2002). The meaning and measurement of work ethic: Construction and initial validation of a multidimensional inventory. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 60, 451-489.
Niles, F. S. (1999). Toward a cross-cultural understanding of work-related beliefs. Human Relations, 52, 855-867.
Nord, W. R., Brief, A. P., Atieh, J. M., & Doherty, E. M. (1988). Work values and the conduct of organizational behavior. Research in Organizational Behavior, 10, 1-42.
Nunnally, J. C., & Bernstein, I. H. (1994). Psychometric theory (3rd ed). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Paik, C., & Michael, W. B. (1999). A construct validity investigation of scores on a Japanese version of an academic self-concept scale for secondary school students. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 59, 98-110.
Poggi, G. (1983). Calvinism and the capitalist spirit: Max Weber’s Protestant ethic. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.
Scarborough, J. (1998). The origins of cultural differences and their impact on management. Westport, CT: Quorum.
Steiger, J. H. (1989). EzPath: Causal modeling. Evanston, IL: SYSTAT.
Steiger, J. H. (1990). Structural model evaluation and modification: An interval estimation approach. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 25, 193-180.
Vandenburg, R. J., & Lance, C. E. (2000). A review and synthesis of the measurement invariance literature: Suggestions, practices, and recommendations for organizational research. Organizational Research Methods, 3, 4-69.
Weber, M. (1958). The Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism (T. Parsons, Trans.). New York: Scribner. (Original work published 1904-1905)
Woehr, D. J., & Miller, M. J. (1998). Understanding work ethic: A conceptual and psychometric examination across multiple samples. In Proceedings of the Sixth Bi-Annual Conference of the International Society for the Study of Work and Organizational Values: Cross-cultural perspectives on work values and organizational behavior: East meets West (pp. 397-401). Shreveport, LA: International Society for the Study of Work and Organizational Values.

Cite article

Cite article

Cite article

OR

Download to reference manager

If you have citation software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice

Share options

Share

Share this article

Share with email
EMAIL ARTICLE LINK
Share on social media

Share access to this article

Sharing links are not relevant where the article is open access and not available if you do not have a subscription.

For more information view the Sage Journals article sharing page.

Information, rights and permissions

Information

Published In

Article first published: February 2007
Issue published: February 2007

Keywords

  1. work ethic
  2. measurement equivalence
  3. Multidimensional Work Ethic Profile
  4. cross-cultural measurement

Rights and permissions

Request permissions for this article.

Authors

Affiliations

David J. Woehr
Luis M. Arciniega
Instituto Tecnològico Autònomo de Mèxico
Doo H. Lim
The University of Tennessee

Metrics and citations

Metrics

Journals metrics

This article was published in Educational and Psychological Measurement.

VIEW ALL JOURNAL METRICS

Article usage*

Total views and downloads: 878

*Article usage tracking started in December 2016


Altmetric

See the impact this article is making through the number of times it’s been read, and the Altmetric Score.
Learn more about the Altmetric Scores



Articles citing this one

Receive email alerts when this article is cited

Web of Science: 40 view articles Opens in new tab

Crossref: 0

  1. Development and validation of ICT unethical behavior scale among under...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  2. An examination of the levels of work ethic in the university context a...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  3. Live to Work, Work to Live, and Work as a Necessary Evil: An Examinati...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  4. The Multidimensional Workaholism Scale in a Korean Population: A Cross...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  5. Religiosity-Work Ethics Relationship and Protestant-Islamic Work ethic...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  6. Composite indicators in experimental psychology. An example with the s...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  7. Moral Awareness: A Source of Improved Sustainable Performance
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  8. Comparison of cross-generational work values of the millennial generat...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  9. Development of the Korean teachers’ occupational work ethic scale: its...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  10. The Evolution of Multigroup Comparison Testing across Culture: Past, P...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  11. Development and validation of work ethic instrument to measure Chinese...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  12. Examining regional variability in work ethic within Mexico: Individual...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  13. Work values ethic and personal discretionary non-work activities
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  14. Barriers to innovation and knowledge generation: The challenges of con...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  15. Cultural Capital at Work: How Cognitive and Noncognitive Skills Are Ta...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  16. Work ethic and life satisfaction among social workers in Massachusetts...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  17. Generational Differences in Work Ethic: Fact or Fiction?
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  18. Transmission of Work Ethic in African-American Families and Its Links ...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  19. An Empirical Alternative to Sidani and Thornberry’s (2009) ‘Current Ar...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  20. Examining the Work Ethic of Correctional Officers Using a Short Form o...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  21. Work ethic and grit: An examination of empirical redundancy
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  22. Examining relationships among work ethic, academic motivation and perf...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  23. A Study to Develop an Instrument to Measure Work Ethic
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  24. Examining the influence of transculturation on work ethic in the Unite...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  25. Testing measurement invariance of the patient-reported outcomes measur...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  26. Work Values Ethic, GNP Per Capita and Country of Birth Relationships
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  27. Examining the Validity of MWEP Scale in Turkish Culture
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  28. Development and validation of a short form for the multidimensional wo...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  29. The Path Analysis for Mutual Relationship of Stress and Depression tha...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  30. Perceptual equivalence of psychological climates within groups: When a...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  31. Personalizing Global Leader Development @ Infosys
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  32. An analysis of the Longitudinal Changes of Satisfaction with Marital R...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  33. Assignment choice, effort, and assignment completion: Does work ethic ...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  34. Organizational Mindfulness in Business Schools
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  35. Examining MWEP and its validity in an Islamic society: A national stud...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  36. Generational Differences in Work Ethic: An Examination of Measurement ...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  37. References
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  38. Examining Chinese managers' work‐related values and attitudes
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  39. Cross-national comparability of the WHOQOL-BREF: A measurement invaria...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  40. The Construct of Employee's Work Ethic in China
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  41. Chinese workers' work ethic in reformed state-owned enterprises: impli...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  42. Measurement invariance: Review of practice and implications
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  43. The translation and development of a short form of the Korean language...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar

Figures and tables

Figures & Media

Tables

View Options

Get access

Access options

If you have access to journal content via a personal subscription, university, library, employer or society, select from the options below:


Alternatively, view purchase options below:

Purchase 24 hour online access to view and download content.

Access journal content via a DeepDyve subscription or find out more about this option.

View options

PDF/ePub

View PDF/ePub