CHAPTER TWELVECHAPTER TWELVE Work, Leisure, and Retirement

The Meaning of Work

• Occupational priorities:

motivations for

employment– Money– Prestige– Recognition– Sense of worth

Holland’s Theory of Occupational Choice

• People choose occupations that optimize the fit between their individual traits and their occupational interests.

• Six personality types have been identified:

Super’s Theory of Occupational Development

• Super describes five stages in

adulthood, based on self-concept

and adaptation to an occupational

role.– Implementation– Establishment– Maintenance– Deceleration– Retirement

• The more congruent a person’s

occupational behaviors are with

what is expected of them at

different ages, the more

vocationally mature they are.

Occupational Expectations• Reality Shock -- The realization that one’s expectations about an

occupation are different from the reality one experiences, including:• the job not fitting with one’s dream• age, race, or sexual discrimination• lack of opportunity• obsolescence of skills

• Reality shock is most common among young workers and people with little relevant experience prior to assuming a new job.

• The outcome of reality shock is often a revision of personal priorities in life.

Job Satisfaction• Job satisfaction: the positive feelings that result from an

appraisal of one’s work• Job satisfaction tends to increase with age, due to:

– self-selection (unhappy workers may quit).

– intrinsic satisfaction– good fit– lower importance of work– finding non-work diversions– life-cycle factors

Alienation and Burnout

• Alienation—feeling that what one is doing is meaningless • Burnout—too much stress in one’s occupation—can lead to:

• Loss of energy and motivation• Loss of occupational idealism• Feeling that one is being exploited

Bias and Discrimination

• Sex discrimination– Denying a job to someone solely on the

basis of gender– Can affect getting a job, occupational

development, and also pay.

• Glass ceiling– The level to which women and ethnic

minorities may rise in a company, but not go beyond

– This is a barrier to promotion.

• Glass elevator– In traditionally female occupations, men

may rise much faster than female counterparts.

Bias and Discrimination

• Pay inequity– Women sometimes get paid a

fraction of what men with similar

jobs earn.

• Sexual harassmentThe reasonable woman (person)

standard is used to decide whether

an act constitutes harassment:– If a reasonable woman

would view a behavior

as offensive, then it is

offensive even if the man

did not conceive it as so.

Age Discrimination

According to the U.S. Census Bureau:

– About 49% of workers 55 to 64 years old find employment

– 65% to 70% of workers under 35 find new employment

• Making employment

decisions only on the

basis of age• Denying employment or

promotion if the worker

is over the age of 40• Differential layoff

patterns• Stereotypical views

about older workers

Occupational Change• Factors influencing

occupational change include: – Dislike

• Which results in quitting or seeking other employment

– Worker obsolescence • For example, technological

developments that eliminate jobs

– Economic factors which result in layoffs or downsizing

• For example, recessions

Dual-Earner Couples• In nearly 2/3 of two-parent households, both

adults work outside the home.• Nearly 1/2 of unmarried mothers and 56% of

married mothers with children under the age of 1 are currently in the work force. – These numbers are increasing.

The Dependent Care Dilemma

• Whether a women returns to work after having a child depends largely on how attached she is to her work.

• Inter-role conflict:– Conflicts between work and

family responsibilities• Flexible work schedules and

number of children are important factors in role conflict.

Dependent Care and Employer Response

• The mere availability of a workplace childcare center does

not always result in higher job satisfaction.

– Sympathetic supervisors are essential to lowering the

stress of how child care issues can be resolved.

Juggling Multiple Roles

• Dividing household chores– Working mothers spend about twice as many hours per

week as their husbands in family work and bear the greatest responsibility for household tasks.

• Unequal division of labor is a major cause for arguments and unhappiness.

Work-Family Conflict

• The feeling of being pulled in multiple directions by incompatible demands from one’s job and one’s family

• How to deal with work-family conflict successfully– Women must be clear in their

commitment to their careers,marriage, and children.

– Couples equally share housework and emotional work, and combine their roles without high levels of stress.

– Stress is higher during the peak parenting years, then is reduced.

Types of Leisure Activities• Four categories are usually

used to help organize leisure activities:– Cultural– Physical– Social– Solitary

• Leisure activities can also be considered in terms of the degree of involvement in these areas:• Cognitive• Emotional• Physical

Types of Leisure Activities

• People develop a repertoire of preferred leisure activities.– Each activity has a different meaning and importance to

every individual.– The activities are determined by perceived competence

and psychological comfort. • Perceived competence - how good we think we are at the

activity compared to others.• Psychological comfort - how well we meet our personal goals for

performance.

Developmental Changes in Leisure• Longitudinal research shows that leisure preferences in

adulthood reflect those in earlier life. – However, as people grow older they tend to engage in leisure

activities that are less strenuous and more family-oriented.

• Leisure activities promote well-being and can enhance all

aspects of people’s lives.– Positive effects are based on the amount of satisfaction you derive

from your leisure activities, not your level of participation (quality vs.

quantity)

Retirement• Retirement is largely a development of the 20th century and is

still an evolving concept.• What does being retired mean?

– The way in which people withdraw from full-time employment– Changing conceptions of work are resulting in changing conceptions of

retirement. • Retirement can be crisp or blurred.

• Crisp - making a clean break from employment by stopping work entirely.• Blurred - repeatedly leaving and returning to work, with some periods of

unemployment.

Planning for Retirement• Financial planning and realistic expectations toward

retirement are important predictors of future satisfaction.– People who plan for retirement tend to be more

successful in adapting to this major life change.• Pre-retirement education programs cover a variety of topics,

including finances, attitudes, health, and expectations.

Adjustment to Retirement• Retirement is an important life transition and can be stressful.

– However, the degree of stress is related to attitudes toward retirement and whether retirement is voluntary.

• Most people are satisfied with their retirement, as long as people: – Have financial security– Have their health– Have a supportive network of relatives and friends