Examining the relationship between religiosity and student work among students in Central and Eastern Europe
Abstract
An important area of research in the sociology of religion is the relationship between religiosity and employment. The research results show a positive correlation between religiosity and employment aspiration among higher education students. Studies examining the relationship between work and religiosity focus on whether work performance is related to work values and on the impact of religiosity on employee performance. In the context of volunteer work, the results show that religiosity increases volunteer activity and that altruistic attitudes, which are often associated with religiosity, are also present in volunteer work motivations. The aim of our study is to investigate the relationship between paid student work and volunteer work and religious attitudes. We seek to answer the question how student work (paid and voluntary) and work motivation clusters are related to religiosity. In our study, we used a large-sample student database covering Hungarian-speaking higher education institutions in five countries (Hungary, Romania, Ukraine, Slovakia and Serbia). Our results show a strong correlation along the frequency of performing the two forms of work. Another important finding of the study was that we identified different clusters along the motivation to work and then used binary logistic regression models to examine the effect of religiosity on the probability of belonging to the motivational clusters. Our results provide partial support for the effect of religiosity on work motivation. Our further research aims to explore which factors other than religiosity and financial situation determine work motivation.
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