Examination of the organizational commitment levels of religious officials according to socio-demographic variables

In this study, the aim was to determine the organizational commitment levels of Imam Hatip, Muezzin Qayyim and Qur'an course teachers who were working in the Department of Religious Affairs in 2019, and, with various variables, to reveal their level of belonging, and in which cases there is deficiency. The organizational commitment scale developed by Meyer and Allen (2004) was used in this study. The questionnaire technique, which is a quantitative measurement tool, was applied. Our survey was carried out in Istanbul, Ankara, Antalya, Gaziantep, Van, Izmir, and Samsun provinces, which are the largest provinces of our 7 geographical regions in terms of population. 2434 personnel actively working on the titles of Imam Hatip, Muezzin Qayyim and Qur'an course teachers participated in the questionnaire, and 98 questionnaires were considered invalid for various reasons, and a total of 2336 questionnaires were evaluated in emotional, attendance and normative commitment categories. The level of organizational commitment was examined in terms of demographic characteristics, whether it differs in terms of gender, age, title, duration of employment in the institution, term of office in the title, income status, and educational status. As a result of the research, it was found that organizational commitment did not differ significantly according to gender, and when the levels of emotional commitment of the participants were analyzed according to age groups, it increased in organizational commitment as the age increased. It has been observed that there is a decrease in the level of organizational commitment with the increase in education level, and emotional commitment is higher in individuals with increased income levels than those in the lower-income groups. It has been observed that the organizational commitment levels of employees with a service period of 21 years or more have increased. In general, in our study, an organizational commitment was analyzed in three different categories in itself, and it was found that emotional and normative commitment levels were high, but continuance commitment was moderate, and individuals' organizational commitment levels were high.