Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to explore the factor make up of the Protestant Work Ethic and the relationship between endorsement of the Protestant Work Ethic and seventeen measures of academic achievement. ;The sample included 257 high school seniors from three schools in western Washington State. The students were surveyed to determine their beliefs concerning the Protestant Work Ethic. The independent variable was level of endorsement of the Protestant Work Ethic, measured by the Protestant Ethic Scale which was developed by Mirels and Garrett . The dependent variable was academic achievement, measured by seventeen indicators. The study used a correlational research design. A principal components factor analysis with varimax rotation was used to determine the factor makeup of the primary construct, Protestant Work Ethic. A Pearson product moment correlation coefficient was calculated for level of endorsement of the Protestant Work Ethic and each of the seventeen measures of academic achievement. In addition, a correlation coefficient was calculated for each of the four factors found in the factor analysis and each of the seventeen measures of academic achievement. Finally, a correlation coefficient was calculated for each of the GPA measures and each of the standard, norm-referenced measures. ;The factor analysis identified four factors: Effort/Success, Hard Work, Anti-Leisure, and Asceticism. Results of the study showed that endorsement of the Protestant Work Ethic was not significantly related to any of the five ACT scores or four CTBS scores. Endorsement of the Protestant Work Ethic was significantly negatively related to both SAT/Verbal and SAT/Mathematics scores. Endorsement of the Protestant Work Ethic was significantly, positively related to GPA/English, GPA/Mathematics, GPA/Social Studies, and GPA/Cumulative. Endorsement of the Protestant Work Ethic was not significantly related to GPA/Science. GPA measures were found to be significantly positively related to nearly all standardized, norm referenced measures. Endorsement of the Protestant Work Ethic was not significantly related to level of involvement in extra-curricular activities. No clear relationship emerged among the measures of academic achievement and the four factors identified by the factor analysis. ;The major limitation of this study was the size and selection of the sample. The sample included volunteers that were available to the investigator. ;Further research suggested included a continued examination of the factor makeup of the Protestant Work Ethic. The question concerning whether the Protestant Work Ethic is a single general construct or is made up of independent measurable factors remained unresolved. Examination of the relationship between endorsement of the Protestant Work Ethic and indicators of academic achievement using a larger more diverse sample was suggested