Best Paper Award (AoM) - Well-Being, Workplace and Religion: Insights from the Middle East

Abstract

This paper uses an interdisciplinary approach to examine how religious practices and spiritual facilities may affect employees' well-being in workplaces. Based on Ryff’s (1989) well-being framework, a related aim is to contextually study the implications of Islamic practices and spiritual facilities for Ryff’s (1989) model. Using a qualitative data collected from 22 employees, our findings show that worshipping Allah, contemplative practices, and patience are key factors of one’s psychological well-being. The study also highlights specific spiritual provisions and contemplative practices as key factors for enhancing Ryff’s six dimensions of employees’ psychological well-being. The paper offers a novel and contextual extension of Ryff’s framework by theorizing the notion of well-being in Islam. In the end, theoretical and practical implications are offered.