2008 - Marketing Educators' Association

H8b: The more a student works while going to
school, the higher will be his/her level of
spirituality.
H9a: A student’s political party affiliation influences
his or her level of religiosity, with those
affiliated with the Republican Party being
more religious than members of other political
parties.
H9b: A student’s political party affiliation does not
influence his or her level of spirituality.
H10a: Students in different majors will have different
levels of religiosity.
H10b: Students in different majors will have different
levels of spirituality.
H11a: The higher the level of a student’s religiosity,
the higher will be his or her GPA.
H11b: The higher the level of a student’s spirituality,
the higher will be his or her GPA.
METHODOLOGY
Data were collected from 116 undergraduate
students enrolled in marketing and management
classes at a major university located in the
southwestern United States. This sample included
students who had the following characteristics: they
were 39.7 percent male and 60.3 percent female;
they were 20-40 years old; they were 60.3 percent
Caucasian, 31.0 percent Hispanic, and 8.6 percent
other; they had $0-$150,000 in self-reported annual
income; they were marketing majors (36.2 percent),
management majors (24.1 percent), general
business majors (15.5 percent), finance majors (3.4
percent), accounting majors (11.2 percent), and nonbusiness
majors (8.6 percent); and they were 50.9
percent Republican, 19.0 percent Democrat, 15.5
percent Independent, and 12.9 percent other.
The questionnaire was administered on a voluntary
basis as possible extra credit to students. They were
given several days to complete it. The items on the
questionnaire included single-item measures for
income, financial concerns, political party affiliation,
academic major, and GPA.
Charitable involvement, professional ambition, risk
aversion, materialism, self sufficiency, working while
attending school, religiosity, and spirituality were all
measured by multiple item measures. Charitable
involvement was measured using seven items with a
reliability of α = .72 (Cronbach, 1951). Professional
ambition was measured using eight items with a
reliability of α = .80. Risk aversion was measured
using three items with a reliability of α = .60.
Materialism was measured using five items with a
reliability of α = .66. Self sufficiency was measure
using four items with a reliability of α = .75. Religiosity
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was measured using three items with a reliability of α =
.35. Finally, spirituality was measured using six items with
a reliability of α = .87.
The scales used to measure charitable involvement,
professional ambition, working while attending school,
religiosity, and spirituality were derived from an ongoing
study being conducted at UCLA about college students’
beliefs and values (UCLA Study, 2005). The scale used
to measure risk aversion was derived from a previously
used measure that included nine items (Price &
Ridgway, 1983). The scale used to measure materialism
was derived from a previously used measure that
included six items (Moschis, 1978). Finally, the scale
used to measure self sufficiency was derived from a
previously used measure that included six items (Raskin
& Terry, 1988).
Note that several of the multiple-item measures are
reliable (Cronbach’s alpha > .60), making them suitable
to be used to test the hypotheses. However, religiosity
has a low reliability. Considering the exploratory nature
of this study, the analyses of the hypothesized relationships
were conducted, despite this weak measure.
RESULTS
To examine the hypotheses in this study, both t-tests
and logistical regression were used. The results are
summarized in Table 1. The first pair of hypotheses
assesses the impact of a student’s charitable
involvement on his/her religiosity and spirituality.
Results show statistical significance for both of these
hypothesized relationships. In other words, the higher a
student’s charitable involvement the higher will be both
his/her religiosity (t = 2.496, p < .05) and spirituality (t =
1.976, p < .10). Thus, H1 is fully supported.
The second pair of hypotheses predicts that a student’s
professional ambition will impact religiosity positively and
spirituality negatively. Analysis reveals professional
ambition has no influence on religiosity. However, it does
influence a student’s spirituality, as predicted (t = 2.997,
p < .01). Thus, H2 is partially supported.
The third set of hypotheses suggests that a student’s
risk aversion impacts his or her religiosity and spirituality.
However, statistical analysis fails to indicate an effect.
Thus, H3 is not supported.
The fourth hypothesis predicts that the materialism of
students influences their religiosity and spirituality.
Analysis reveals materialism has no influence on
religiosity. However, it does influence students’
spirituality, as predicted (t = 1.931, p < .10). Thus, H4 is
partially supported.