Market justice, religious orientation, and entrepreneurial attitudes

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to test the proposition that religious orientation has a measurable affect on individuals' definitions of market justice and attitudes toward self‐employment.Design/methodology/approachThe paper distinguishes between religious orientation and spirituality and defines religious orientation to be either intrinsic or extrinsic. It then examines the modern concept of market justice and hypothesizes that individuals with intrinsic religiosity will have negative opinions of the justice of market exchange while those with extrinsic religiosity will have positive opinions. It is expected that individuals that own their own business or have positive views of self‐employment will have positive opinions of the justice of market exchange. Finally, the paper hypothesizes that intrinsic religiosity will lead to higher levels of entrepreneurial behavior once opinion about market justice has been controlled for. The survey instrument was administered to 141 undergraduate business students.FindingsCluster analysis revealed two clusters; cluster membership was used as a binary dependent variable indicating positive or negative opinions of market justice. The intrinsic religiosity hypothesis is statistically supported. The self‐employment hypothesis is only partly supported. The entrepreneurial behavior hypothesis is also statistically supported.Originality/valueThis paper examines the concepts of religious orientation and attitudes toward market justice and entrepreneurship. It offers an empirical analysis of value‐based attitudes and their impact on entrepreneurial activity, and the importance of religious attitudes on market behaviors.