Available online at
www.mdl.mazedan.com
MJRT
www.mazedan.com ©2023 Mazedan International Research Academy www.mazedan.com/mjrt
WORKPLACE SPIRITUALITY A SCIENCE:
CONCERNS ABOUT EPISTEMOLOGY,
ONTOLOGY, AND METHODOLOGY
MAZEDAN JOURNAL OF
RELIGION AND THEOLOGY
e-ISSN- 2582-9564
Article id-MJRT0101002
Vol.-1, Issue-1
Received: 25 Jan 2023
Revised: 28 Feb 2023
Accepted: 1 Mar 2023
PITSHOU MOLEKA
Citation: Moleka, P. (2023). Workplace Spirituality A Science: Concerns About Epistemology, Ontology, and
Methodology. Journal of Religion and Theology, 1(1), 7-11.
Abstract
According to academics, the constant interest in spirituality is growing due to widespread value shifts, rising social
anomie, a quest for meaning in a world that seems to be getting more and more chaotic, and turbulent social and
business changes. Spiritual renaissance and increasing interest in philosophies Eastern; baby-boomers' perception of the
impending end of their working lives leads them to reflect on the value of their careers. They also look at the connection
between their locations of employment and the growing problem of loneliness in modern society. Businesses would then
be inspired to reassess and support workers' spiritual wellbeing. To build paradigms and theories, this notion must first
undergo further theoretic development. It also lacks a widely accepted conceptual definition and uses insufficient
measurement tools.
Keywords: workplace, science, workplace spirituality, epistemology.
1. INTRODUCTION
What is the workplace spirituality? Workplace spirituality
is difficult to describe, multidimensional, and difficult to
experience. And up until that point, it hadn't been the
focus of an agreed-upon definition (Duyck & Mhenaoui,
2013). Reaching one's full potential is a vast notion whose
semantic field includes any event deemed to be positive,
like enjoying one's job (Duyck & Mhenaoui, 2013). And
Kolodinsky et alii quoted by Duyck and Mhenaoui (2013)
note that the greatest challenge for understanding
spirituality in work is conceptual rather than ontological,
the semantic vagueness around spirituality is due to the
fact of the attempt to objectify and categorize an
experience and a way of being, which is basically very
subjective and out of category.
The size of the business and the involved departments are
additional factors that may prevent agreement on the idea.
Individual acceptance of the definition of spirituality is
another. (Duyck & Mhenaoui, 2013). According to
Giacalone and Jurkiewicz (2015), there are two opposing
conceptions of workplace spirituality: passive, static, and
trait-like characteristics, comparable to possessions (like
beliefs) or actions (such as rituals) that change very little,
if at all, over time. Another strategy is dynamic, which
refers to a collection of capabilities, resources, and skills
that are constantly growing and interacting with their
surroundings.
Greater longitudinal consistency is expected in a static
conceptualization, making the data a dependent variable;
greater divergence is anticipated in a dynamic
conceptualization, making the data an independent
variable.
The ontology of workplace spirituality closely parallels
the literature on power in this dual conceptualization. As
a result, it can be described as "components of the
workplace, either in the individual or the organization,
that promote individual feelings of satisfaction through
transcendence." (Giacalone & Jukiewicz, 2015).
2. PREVIOUS TENDENCIES
Neal's work in « The Palgrave Handbook of Workplace
Spirituality and Fulfillment » (2018) has an influenced in
this work even if her viewpoint is limited to the
management sector.
The Servant as Leader (1970), a Robert Greenleaf essay,
is the first piece of writing on workplace spirituality.
However, neither a movement for workplace spirituality
nor the creation of a new academic field were brought
about by Greenleaf's work, which only resulted in a
reasonably widespread corporate adoption of servant
leadership principles.
However, workplace spirituality became a significant
movement in the 1990s.
By the year 2010, Aburdene (2005) identified seven
megatrends that would change how people labor, live, and
invest. Her study revealed that "spirituality in business"
was the most important megatrend out of the seven trends.
The rise in personal faith is largely a result of Eastern
spiritual practices like yoga and meditation being
introduced to the USA (Neal, 2018). I believe there is a lot
of scientific research that needs to be done in other parts
of the globe, particularly in the marganized continent of
Africa. This has led to a very powerful tendency of people
Managing Research African Network, Democratic Republic of Congo
*Corresponding author email- sodecordc1@gmail.com