A study of religious commitment and resilience among Seventh-day Adventists victims of workplace religious discrimination

Researchers, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Department of Justice, and advocates for religious liberty all agree that religious discrimination in the workplace in the United States has increased significantly since the events of September 11, 2001. While the rise in religious discrimination in the U.S. is now common knowledge according to information received from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, little attention has been given to Seventh-day Adventists, a minority religious group, and little is known about the fact that between 1992 and 2010 religious based charges filed with the EEOC by Seventh-day Adventists where reasonable accommodation was an alleged issue, increased 500%. No previous research has been conducted to understand how and why Seventh-day Adventists develop resilience in the wake of religious discrimination, and what role religious commitment plays in their resilience. This study utilized a quantitative, correlational, cross-sectional research design to examine the relationship between religious commitment and resilience among Seventh-day Adventists who have experienced workplace religious discrimination for lack of reasonable accommodation for Sabbath observance, in consideration of age, gender, race/ethnicity, and length of denominational affiliation. The Resilience Scale and The Religious Commitment Inventory-10 were used for data collection in an online survey. Bivariate Correlational Analysis and Multiple Regression Analyses were used for data analysis. Results from the study revealed that the sample population could be considered highly religious, and there is no correlation between religious commitment and race/ethnicity, gender, and length of denominational affiliation. However, an examination of group mean differences for RCI and age group showed that the 25-34 age group had significantly lower RCI scores than the 45-54 age group, suggesting that young people have lower levels of religious commitment. Study results also showed a positive correlation between resilience and length of denominational affiliation. Multiple linear regression analyses revealed that race/ethnicity and length of denominational affiliation were the strongest predictors of resilience among the sample population. Findings showed no significant correlation between the continuous measure of religious commitment and resilience. Level of religious commitment (high/low, RCI > = 38) and resilience showed a moderate correlation for length of denominational affiliation.