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This article presents an overview of Arab college students' work values in an ethnically and culturally diverse context. The study subjects represent an indigenous ethnic and religious minority in Israel. The development of the work values theory is reviewed, and the relevance of an Islamic work ethic (IWE) measure, which was used to measure Arab students' work values in this multicultural setting, is evaluated.
The literature on work values suggests that work attitudes and behaviors are governed to a large extent by values. Values can be defined as constructs that mediate between a person's internal physiological and psychological needs, and the specific activities available to fulfill each need ([27] Gartland, 1984). Research on work values in a wide range of cultural settings indicates that they are key constructs in the socialization process and reflect conditions of education, occupation, politics, religion, culture, and the family milieu ([2] Abu-Saad, 2003; [6] Abu-Saad and Isralowitz, 1997; [15] Aryee et al. , 1994; [21] Chew and Putti, 1995; [24] Elizur et al. , 1991; [39] Morinaga et al. , 1993; [45] Sidani, 2000; [50] Zytowski, 1994). Work values have been defined as qualities that:
- people desire from their work ([18] Ben-Shem and Avi-Itzhak, 1991; [22] Dawis and Lofquist, 1984);
- are more fundamental than interests ([46] Super, 1970);
- reflect a correspondence between needs and satisfaction ([1] Abboushi, 1990; [23] Drummond and Stoddart, 1991);
- are indicative of preferences and not moral imperatives ([42] Pryor, 1979); and
- are broad tendencies to prefer certain states of affairs over others ([31] Hofstede, 1999).
Identification of individuals' work value profiles is useful for:
- providing an informational basis for employment counseling and career planning ([44] Reichel et al. , 1981);
- assessing an individual's level of motivation for certain jobs ([20] Brown, 1976);
- designing effective motivational systems ([25] England, 1978);
- influencing an individual's drive for achievement at work and job satisfaction ([36] Mankoff, 1974; [33] Knoop, 1994; [45] Sidani, 2000); and
- inducing individuals to be highly involved in their jobs ([43] Randall and Cote, 1991).
Much of the research on work values has been carried out in the West and has focused on the Protestant Work Ethic (PWE) as defined by Weber. Weber considered the...