Protestant Work Ethic (Mirels & Garrett)
Psychology: Values & BeliefsReliability: alpha 0.793 sample items
About this scale
A 19-item measure of the Protestant Work Ethic — the belief that hard work is a moral duty, leisure is a vice, and economic success is a sign of virtue. Foundational measure for cross-cultural and values-based work research.
Sample item(s)
“Most people spend too much time in unprofitable amusements.”
“Our society would have fewer problems if people had less leisure time.”
“Hard work offers little guarantee of success. (reverse)”
Reliability
Reported internal consistency: alpha 0.79. As a rule of thumb, Cronbach’s α ≥ .70 is considered acceptable, ≥ .80 good, and ≥ .90 excellent for established measures.
Notes
Use alongside IWE for comparative cross-cultural studies.
Source & citation
Mirels, H. L., & Garrett, J. B. (1971): The Protestant Ethic as a personality variable. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Vol. 36, No. 1, pp. 40–44.
Mirels & Garrett (1971): Protestant Ethic. JCCP, 36(1), 40–44.
Source. Scale details are summarised from the publication cited above. Always consult the original source for the full item set, scoring, and permission to use.
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