Frederick Herzberg\'s motivation-hygiene theory revisited: The concept and its applicability to clergy (A study of fulltime stipendiary clergy of the global evangelical church, Ghana

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the applicability of Herzberg's (1959) motivation-hygiene theory to clergy using fulltime stipendiary clergy in parish ministry of the Global Evangelical Church, Ghana as a case study. The study involved the determination of the overall job satisfaction of clergy and the investigation of the relationship between clergy's overall satisfaction and Herzberg, Mauser and Snyderman's (1959) job satisfier and disatisfier factors. The specific job satisfier factors investigated were: achievement, recognition, work-itself, responsibility, and advancement. The job disatisfier factors investigated were: company policy and administration, suoervision, salary, interpersonal relations, and working conditions. Brayfield-Roche's (1951) "Job Satisfactions Index" was adapted to assess the overall job satisfaction of clergy while a modified version of Wood's (1973) "Faculty Job Satisfaction / Disatisfaction Scale" was used to measure the satisfaction of clergy relative to Herzberg's satisfier and dissatisfier factors. There were 117 pastors in fulltime parish ministry a the time of the survey. A total of 104 (89%)responses wewe returned, out of which 96 (82%) were usable. Correlation coefficients were calculated the describe the relationship between Clergy's overall job satisfaction and the job satisfier and job disatisfier factors. The significance of the correlation coecoefficients were investigated by setting them against a critical alpha Isignificance) p=.05. Analyses of the datarevealed that all the job satisfier and disatisfier factors expect salary were related to varying degrees to overall job satisfactor, thus implying that the basic assumptions of herzberg, Mauser and Synderman motivational theory may not be applicable to clergy. It was also found that the "work-itself" was the most motivating factor for clergy.