Attribution of Power and Status in a Religious Nonprofit Organization

Abstract

Katz and Kahn (1978) argue that within any organization the dimensions of power and status exist. These two constructs were studied in the context of a vegetarian restaurant and health food store, a nonprofit organization with a religious base. The organization consisted of eight members: director, manager, supervisor and five workers. ALL erght members were asked to identify the one person in the organization who had the most power and the most status. The three top officials (director, manager, supervisor) were mentioned. The reasons given for such attributions were those persons' position, experience, and religious commitment. It was reasoned, then, that this group of high-power, high-status individuals would receive significantly higher scores on measures of power and status than the remaining group with low power and low status. The Allport-Vernon-Lindzey (1960) Study of Values was administered to all members in the organization. The scale consists of six values: Theoretical, Economic, Aesthetic, Social, Political, and Religious. Power was measured by the Political value (high scores suggest a strong interest in power and influence). Status was measured by the Religious value (high scores suggest strong religious commitment). A 2 x 6 analysis of variance indicated a main effect for values (F,,,, = 49.68, p < .01). A post hoc Newman-Keuls analysis showed the means of the Social value (M = 46.81, SD = 4.36) and the Religious value (M = 52.62, SD = 3.29) were significantly higher than the means for the remaining four values. The mean and standard deviations for these values were: Theoretical (M = 36.12, SD = 3.481, Economic (M = 37.12, SD = 2.531, Aesthetic (M = 37.25, SD = 2.37), Political (M = 38.93, SD = 2.39). It was concluded that, as a group, the high-power, high-status individuals were not considered necessarily more powerful than other members in the organization. They were, however, perceived to be more religiously committed. Further study with a much larger sample is recommended.