The meaning of work among Jews and Arabs in Israel: the influence of ethnicity, ethnic conflict, and socio‐economic variables

Abstract

Work plays a fundamental role in the life of individuals, who make an absolute commitment to it in terms of time; work has notable social and economic consequences in organisations and society at large. For most people, the meaning of work has generally been expounded by three propositions. The most prominent one is economic or instrumental, the second concerns commitment to work as part of human nature and human needs, and the third is sociopsychological (Sharabi and Harpaz 2007). Work values and ethics at the level of groups within society, and in society at large, can affect the extent of the society’s economic success (Child 1981; Mannheim et al. 1997; Sharabi and Harpaz 2007; Weber 1958). Several comparative studies have found significant differences concerning the work values between societies (e.g. MOW 1987; Sharabi and Harpaz 2007; Super et al. 1995), but none have compared the work values of different ethnic groups in the same country. Hofstede (1980, 2001) also compared values between nations, not between ethnic groups in those nations. There is hardly any research on the values of ethnic groups who have been living together in the same country for more than several decades. Gaines et al. (1997) found, in the USA, almost no cultural values differences between the AngloAmerican and AfricanAmerican men and women, whereas the differences between the AngloAmericans and the Latin-American and AsianAmerican men and women (who are more recent ethnic immigrants) were wider. Another research comparing cultural values among ethnic groups was that of Rodrigue and Richardson (2005). It compared Chinese, Malays, and Indians in Malaysia, and found that there were few differences in cultural values between these ethnic groups. In these two cases, ethnic groups who have been living peacefully in the same country for a long time (Anglo-Americans and AfricanAmericans in the USA, and Chinese, Malays, and Indians in Malaysia) share similar values although they are segregated and are characterised by socioeconomic gaps. This strengthens the claim that the level of trust among groups in general, and ethnic groups in particular, can affect the individuals’ attachment to cultural values (Berry et al. 1997). In addition, the level of friendship, trust, and collaboration between individuals of different ethnic groups can affect their mutual understanding and their willingness to accept each other’s values (Hewstone 2003). Higher levels of trust can lead to higher levels of cultural similarity between societies and ethnic groups, whereas mistrust and conflict between societies and ethnic groups may lead to rejection of the other’s culture and values (Ward et al. 2001). The long escalating conflict between Israel and the Palestinians prevents Israeli Arabs (who are Palestinians as well) from identifying with the dominant Jewish culture and values. There is a Moshe Sharabi earned his PhD at the University of Haifa; he is a senior lecturer at the Sociology and Anthropology Department at the Yezreel Valley College and a researcher at the Center for the Study of Organisations and Human Resource Management, in the University of Haifa. His current research interests include human resource management, organisational leadership, and crosscultural comparative research on work values. E-mail: moshes@yvc.ac.il