Religion and Income as Determinant of Well-being Among Employees in Faith-Based and Secular Educational Institutions in Southern Nigeria

Ngozi Caroline Uwannah

doi:10.11648/j.ajap.20190802.13

Abstract

This study investigated the influence of religion and income on well-being among employees in faith-based and secular educational institutions in Southern Nigeria. Three hypotheses were formulated and a total of 500 employees from the study area served as participants. The instruments used for data collection included the Demographic Data Inventory (DDI), Well-Being Scale (WBS), and Religion Scale (RS). Data collected were analyzed by means of multiple regression analysis and independent samples t-test. Results revealed significant combined contributions of religion and income to the well-being of employees in faith-based and secular educational institutions in Southern Nigeria (F<sub> (2, 497) </sub> = 56.467, p < .05), accounting for 25.3% of the variance in their well-being and relative contributions of religion and income to their well-being with income (β = .346; t = 20.491; p < .05) being a stronger predictor of employee well-being than religion (β = .318; t = 18.773; p < .05). There was also a significant difference between employees in faith-based and secular educational institutions in the contribution of religion and income to well-being (t = 9.372, p < .05). It was recommended, among other things, that religious involvement among employees should be encouraged and a steady flow of income in the forms of salaries, allowances, and bonuses should be maintained.

Highlights

There is an increasing international interest in the concept of well-being since achieving well-being has been the concern of philosophers since Aristotle, and is, in many respects the essence of life
Ho1: There is no significant combined contribution of Results in Table 1 showed that religion and income combined to significantly contribute to the well-being of employees in faith-based and secular educational institutions in Southern Nigeria (F(2, 497) = 56.467, p
This study found significant contributions of religion and income to the wellbeing of employees in faith-based and secular educational institutions in Southern Nigeria

Summary

Introduction

There is an increasing international interest in the concept of well-being since achieving well-being has been the concern of philosophers since Aristotle, and is, in many respects the essence of life. The term “well-being” is popularly used in relation to health, it has a broader meaning, indicating generally what is good for a person and is closely allied with terms such as “welfare”, “happiness”, and “quality of life” [1]. Well-being is a positive physical, social, and mental state and not just the absence of pain, discomfort, and incapacity. The concept of well-being can perhaps be better understood by understanding its dimensions. He categorized well-being into nine dimensions: Career, social, financial, physical, community, spiritual, psychological, mental health, and family well-being. Career well-being refers to how a person occupies his or her time by doing what he or she likes

Results

Discussion

Conclusion