Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Ours is a study of the relationship between religiosity and perceptions of workplace leaders among employees. Using a regionally representative survey of U.S. full-time employees from for-profit, non-profit, and government sectors, we find that both the hierarchical leadership style of the religions employees adhere to, as well as the personal religiosity of employees, predict how employees view their managers. Results of statistical analysis suggest that employees who report association with hierarchical religions and employees that use religious values when making work decisions have more negative views of leadership in the workplace. However, employees that attend church regularly are more likely to view leadership positively. We discuss explanations of these diverging results.