Influence of religion and religiosity on leadership practices in the workplace: A quantitative correlation study

Abstract

Religion and religiosity have been major factors in society for many centuries. Religious beliefs shape the values, conduct, ethics, and morals of organizational leaders to a large degree; however, oftentimes faith and religion are avoided in the workplace. This quantitative correlation study examined the relationship between a leader’s self-reported religion and religiosity, the independent variables, and leadership practices, the dependent variables. Christian and Muslim organizational leaders in Lebanon were the primary target population of the study. Organizational leaders responded to the leadership practices inventory (LPI) and the religiosity practices inventory (RPI). Statistical analyses were used to investigate the hypothesized relationship between the variables. The results of the study indicated the existence of a significant relationship between religion and the five leadership dimensions and transformational leadership style; whereas no relationship was found between religiosity and the five leadership dimensions and transformational leadership style. Based on the findings in this study, religion and religiosity and their influence on the behavior and practices of organizational leaders must be taken into account especially when global expansion is undertaken. Future research is recommended to study the effect of religion and religiosity on organizational performance and to explore and identify the effects of other religions such as Buddhism, Confucianism, and Hinduism on leadership practices in other geographies.