Moderating role of Cognitive Dissonance in the relationship of Islamic work ethics and Job Satisfaction, Turnover Intention & Job Performance

Ethics in the workplace is a persistent focus of research as it is a pervasive element of organizational life. Recently, Islamic work ethics has arisen in literature on ethics because of the emergence of multiple Islam culture countries in the global economy. As ethics provides values that are the basis for behaviors, this study intends to explore the impact of Islamic work ethics on job performance, job satisfaction and turnover intention. In addition, as global business practices may sometimes contradict with morale values issued from religious convictions, this study explores the impact of cognitive dissonance as a moderator of the previous relationships. Cognitive dissonance theory is used as a theoretical framework. Data consists of 252 questionnaires completed by employees of different banks and universities of Pakistan. Findings confirm that Islamic work ethics affect job satisfaction and job performance positively, but no effect is found on turnover intention. Furthermore, results indicate that cognitive dissonance is a significant moderator such that the relationship between Islamic work ethics and job performance and job satisfaction is stronger when cognitive dissonance is low rather than high. Finally, managerial implications, limitations and future directions are discussed.