Abstract:
Spirituality is receiving increased attention in the context of the workplace. Research consistently shows that spirituality
is signifi cantly correlated with mental health and well-being. Most of the research on spirituality, particularly in the
context of the workplace, is conducted with instruments developed in the USA. However, the inter-cultural measurement
of constructs remains a concern, because instruments developed in one culture are not necessarily transferable to another
culture. In the current study, the transferability of two spiritual measures developed in the USA, namely the Human
Spirituality Scale (HSS) and the Organizational Spirituality Values Scale (OSVS) are considered for a sample from South
Africa. The results confi rm the construct validity of the HSS and the OSVS, but indicate that the factor structures of
the HSS and the OSVS should be analysed and reconfi rmed when used, particularly in a South African sample. The
study provides evidence that the HSS and the OSVS cannot be transferred indiscriminately to a South African sample.
This insight contributes to the quality of future research studies in South Africa, not only on the important aspect of
spirituality, but also when applying instruments developed elsewhere in the world.
