Articl~e<..IJs _

Revisiting the Work Ethic inAmerica

Amy L. McCartneyDennis W. Engels

Starring with a reflection on the September l l th, 2001, terrorist attacks on thePentagon and the World Trade Center and the corporate fraud and bankruptciesof 2002, the authors provide an overview of the professional literature concern­ing the origins, evolution, practice, and future implications of the work ethic inthe United States. Discussion focuses on the American work ethic from both ahistorical and a modern-day perspective, highlighting the formation of what isnow considered a major paradigm of work; views on the changing nature of thework ethic, especially for women and members of minority groups; and implica­tions for career counselors.

What is the American work ethic and how does it matter to people, espe­cially career counselors and the people they serve? Tragically, new stimuliand recent events add weight to the discussion on the ongoing, seriatim,and incremental changes related to this complex topic and question. Inthe shock and numbing aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the Penta­gon and the World Trade Center in September 2001 came months ofcountless accounts of heroic responses and initiatives during and follow­ing the collapse of the World Trade Center. Firefighters, police officers,counselors, and other workers from all walks oflife were celebrated col­lectively and individually for their diligence, courage, and selfless atten­tion to duty. In a national and international search for healing and recov­ery came repeated instances of human concern and outreach and ofhu­man dignity and reverential appreciation of and respect for others. Innarratives and pictures in all the media, workers were celebrated andremembered in a manner unknown to current generations. Terkel's (1972)accounts ofquiet, individual searches for meaning in life and work werewrit large and loudly celebrated in numerous reports of human capacity,dedication, inspiration, and generosity in what had been previously takenfor granted as mere quotidian, workaday tasks. In many respects, thesenoble, heroic, and unselfish acts were manifestations of ideal aspects ofthe American work ethic.

Before the ink dried in the depictions of this collective national grief andresurgence, before mourning ceased, monumental economic tragedies inthe summer of 2002 shook the globe as revelations of corporate greed,

Amy L. McCortney and Dennis w: Engels, Counseling Program, University ofNorth Texas. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to AmyL. McCortney, Counseling Program, Box 310829, University of North Texas,Denton, TX 76203-0829 (e-mail: amccortney@coe.unt.edu).

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dishonesty, fraud, and other corruption brought back the reality of thehuman potential for evil and moral frailty. Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, andother corporate entities became major, glaring examples ofreprehensibleand irresponsible corporate mismanagement; public deception; and workerdisenfranchisement. Unanticipated bankruptcies of these and other majorcorporations destroyed worker pensions and shook the foundations of trustin the capitalistsystemasthe public sawexecutives pleading the FifthAmend­ment to avoid self-incrimination while retaining fortunes that resulted fromthe fraud and mismanagement by corporate officials and while Wall Streetbrokers and investors looked for an end to this economic debacle.

Ironically, at the same time the United States commemorated the dig­nity ofwork and workers involved in surviving and rebounding from thedevastation of the World Trade Center, Americans saw pillars ofindustryand commerce acknowledge (or plead the Fifth Amendment about) thebetrayal of public trust and the abdication of personal and professionalresponsibility in fraudulent corporate misbehavior, with, in our view,dev­astating effect on human beings and the public's trust in investment mar­kets and investment safeguards. We believe that human dignity, worth,and potential and a work ethic focused on doing one's best were at risk inthe moral decay that toppled these corporations. In light of these verydifferent tragic occurrences and the numerous changes in how work isviewed and how careers develop, it seems wise to revisit the Americanwork ethic in search of personal empowerment and resilience, while re­maining mindful of the ramifications of the work ethic on business, soci­ety, and individuals. A condensed review of the work ethic and the issuesrelated to the work ethic is followed by attention to implications for coun­seling and research.

Background

The work ethic in the United States is a construct ofwork that has a longhistory ofevolution, with roots in religious concepts from Biblical times,Calvinist and Protestant asceticism, and the Industrial Revolution (Hill,1996; Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey, 2002; Peterson & Gonzalez, 2000; Tilgher,1930). Major theoretical changes in religious views ofwork and the im­pact of those changes on societal perspectives across decades have af­fected the attitudes people hold toward work and its value. In addition,the American work ethic continues to evolve as a result ofcurrent eventsand their sociocultural impact. The goal of this article is to delineateparadigm shifts, especially recent ones, in the American work ethic as ameans of discerning and understanding implications for work and lifetoday, with special emphasis on how these considerations and implica­tions affect the work of career counselors.

Brief History of the Work Ethic

Evolution of the American work ethic may be viewed as a series of para­digm shifts or changes in the way people view work, beginning in biblicaltimes and undergoing developmental changes affected by various histori­cal and sociocultural events. The roots of the work ethic belong to theo­logical perspectives on work ranging from Scripture, most notably the

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Book of Genesis in the Bible through the Protestant Reformation andCalvinism. The modern, secularized view of the work ethic can be tracedthrough Weber's (1904/1958) contribution of the theory of the Protes­tant work ethic, but Americans' perceptions of the theory have also beeninfluenced by changes brought about by developments in capitalism andindustrialization. In the last 100 years alone, the women's suffrage move­ment, desegregation, and an emphasis on cultural diversity represent "new"paradigm shifts that have certainly changed the perspective of work inthe United States. Over time, work has increasingly become what Weberdescribed as the compelling "ethos" in American culture and, arguably,in all human life. These paradigm shifts, ranging from religious perspec­tives on work to the secularization ofwork, have contributed to changingviews of work over time, continue today, and will continue to have aprofound impact on career counseling. Time will tell if the events andaftermath ofSeptember 11, 2001, and recent corporate scandals lead tocontinued major shifts in the work ethic.

Definition of Work Ethic

In light of the impact that current events can and will likely have on thecontinued evolution of the work ethic, it seems critical for career counse­lors to reexamine the meaning of the work ethic. Because of its crucialimplications for society, business, and individuals in today's workplace,researchers have made many attempts to define and measure the con­temporary work ethic. A review of the general issues reflected in profes­sional literature concerning the work ethic suggests that research tendsto cluster around two primary aspects: its internal characteristics, as heldby individuals, and its external characteristics, as exhibited in work behav­iors. Furnham (1987) noted that, in a variety of ways, the work ethic hasbeen defined as a culturally socialized norm, a constellation ofpersonalitytraits or individual qualities, a dispositional variable of personality, or afacet ofinternal locus ofcontrol. In each of these definitions, it is possibleto see the constants of internal attitudes and external behaviors. For thepurposes of this article, the work ethic is considered in its most simplisticdefinition as a construct composed of two distinct parts: attitudes or valuesand the behaviors that outwardly reflect these attitudes or values.

In Weber's (1904/1958) theory of the Protestant work ethic, scholarsfind a popular construct around which a number ofscales have been devel­oped (a) to identity personality traits associated with the work ethic, (b) tomeasure the importance ofwork in the livesofindividuals, and (c) to explainand describebehaviors associated with both a and b (Mudrack, 1997;Wentworth& Chell, 1997). The theory ofthe Protestant work ethic is Weber's attemptto define the individually held internal values and attitudes toward work.According to research on the Protestant work ethic, some traits associatedwith a strong work ethic include asceticism, integrity, independence, dili­gence, motivation, loyalty,and dependability (Hill, 1996; Kern, 1998). Thisfinding tends to reinforce the view that the work ethic is related to internallyheld values. For example, some research indicates that adherents to theProtestant work ethic viewmoney asan extrinsicreward that connotes achieve­ment ratherthan as a goal in and ofitself (Tang & Gilbert, 1995). However,there seems to have been little study ofhow internal values might be affected

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by social or ethnic minority status or by significant social upheaval such asthat in the aftermath of the attack on the World Trade Center or moderncorporate and accounting scandals. Understanding these issueswill requiremuch additional study and discussion.

As a dominant social norm in the United States, the "traditional" workethic of job commitment and achievement, of short-term pain for long­term gain, is often strongly held and highly valued. However, Brown(2000) noted that little direct research has emphasized the nature of thework ethic for members ofcultural and social minority groups. Typically,research has focused on the work ethic as a cultural norm principallyaffected by formative socialization experiences during childhood and ado­lescence. A moral value is placed on the worth ofwork, and this attitudeis internalized by children through experiencing and observing the atti­tudes and actions of family and peers at work (Brown, 2000; Hill, 1996;Hill & Petty, 1995). Cultural values certainly have an impact on indi­vidual development, including career development (Carter, 1991); how­ever, because cultural values differ, the importance ofwork, among otherlife tasks, cannot be assumed universally to conform to the Protestantwork ethic. Therefore, it is essential to consider whether the currentconcept of the work ethic can be accurately, uniformly applied to allindividuals in the "salad bowl" of the United States today.

Research focused on relationships between an internal locus ofcontrol(perceived control over life events) and the Protestant work ethic alsoyields interesting data and perspectives (Mudrack, 1997; Mudrack &Mason, 1995; Vodanovich, Weddle, & Piotrowski, 1997). Internal locusof control has been studied as one method of conceptualizing and ex­plaining how some individuals are more likely than others to exhibit posi­tive attitudes toward work. In relation to work, individuals with an inter­nallocus ofcontrol can be deemed likely to believe that success or failurein work is due to individual efforts, rather than socioeconomic status,events, luck, or other external factors. Several studies have found a posi­tive correlation between internal locus of control and a high Protestantwork ethic (Kanter & Mirvis, 1989; Mudrack, 1997). Whether an inter­nallocus of control can be affected by tragic and far-reaching effects ofthe attack on the World Trade Center and other current events remainsto be seen; however, the initial shock and sobering aftermath of theseevents certainly revealed a national sense ofvulnerability and a new andconstant need for individual and national vigilance in everyday tasks.

Weber's (1904/1958) well-known viewofchanges in the economic struc­ture as related to paradigm shifts regarding work seems to have particu­lar relevance to the continuing evolution of the work ethic, especially inlight ofcurrent events. For example, the social effects of joblessness aloneare considerable, due, in part, to the value people place on work in Americansociety. Social effects of unemployment, for example, are correlated withhomelessness, spouse and child abuse, and alcoholism. In one longitudi­nal study ofthe effects of joblessness, sociologist M. Harvey Brenner (ascited in Tripett, 1982) found that a 1%increase in the national unemploy­ment figures was correlated with a 4.1 % increase in the suicide rate, aswell as with an increase in the homicide rate and increased admissions toboth state mental hospitals and prisons. Seen in this light, if work gives oris perceived to give an individual dignity, then not working removes an

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individual's dignity. The implications ofthis perspective are chilling in anera of the "temping" of the workforce through contract work and re­peated instances of involuntary unemployment (Bridges, 1994; Rifkin,1995). If an individual gets dignity from working, how can he or she haveany sense of dignity in unemployment, and how ironic and troubling isthis quandary in an era that has had many serial periods of involuntaryunemployment?

The Work Ethic Today

Viewed from the combined historicaland theological perspectiveof Weber's(1904/1958) theory, it is possible to see how the modern work ethic hasevolved and how attributes and attitudes ofindividuals in work have beensecularized over time into the construct known as the work ethic. As hasbeen noted, the most common definitions of the work ethic tend to por­tray a person who values hard work and displays personal qualities ofhonesty, asceticism, industriousness, and integrity. However, some em­ployers suggest that it is becoming increasingly difficult to hire workerswho have these qualities (Hill, 1996; Weaver, 1997; Wentworth & Chell,1997), and as noted, some scholars have contended that there is no uni­versal work ethic, especially for women and members of minority groups(Peterson & Gonzalez, 2000), or more precisely that this dominant workethic is biased against and therefore hazardous to and disenfranchising ofwomen and members of minority groups. In response to these and simi­lar concerns, Rifkin (1995) and others have contended that the workethic in today's society continues to change, perhaps not necessarily forthe better.

Modern ideas of the work ethic might be best conceptualized as a kindofuneasy compromise. Implicit in the understanding ofthe work ethic iswhat might be perceived as a social contract consisting ofsome key prom­ises: the ability to afford both necessities and luxuries, the idea that anindividual's basic needs will be provided for, physical safety, economicgain, and psychological fulfillment. The compromise for individuals seemsto be that, if they work hard, honestly, and well, these benefits will un­doubtedly accrue (Rifkin, 1995). In other words, hard work pays off inthe long term; however, in the United States, as well as in the rest of theworld, economic turbulence, unemployment, underemployment, corpo­rate downsizing, and scandals in accounting and management, such asthose attributed to Enron, WoridCom, Tyco, and others in 2002, seemto at least threaten, if not invalidate, the old promises of the work ethic.Is the social contract dead?

In addition, Kanter and Mirvis (1989) discussed the concept ofan "en­titled" (p. 144) generation. In this perspective, earlier events in the twen­tieth century- such as increased education, baby boomers raised in af­fluence, industrial and technological progress, mass marketing, and agood economy-contributed to the development of a nation of peoplewho believe in being better off economically than their parents' genera­tion and who regard the good life as a kind of birthright (Albee, 1977).However, this perceived birthright may not be the reality for workers inthis decade, because victims of major corporate bankruptcies see theirjobs, pensions, and other aspects of this American dream vanish.

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Following this line ofthought, Yankelovich (1978) suggested the exist­ence of "New Breed Values," which are a partial result of the disparitybetween formerly held work values and the realities of modern work. Formany, the values of the 1950s and 1960s have been eroded as the appealof and the sense of intrinsic value in working have decreased. In the faceof the changing nature ofmodern employment, dramatically reduced jobstability, less emphasis on job and on family, and less personal fulfillment,younger workers and the increasing numbers of independent, contractworkers of all ages may not appreciate or embrace the incentives forwork that motivated their parents (Weaver, 1997; Wentworth & Chell,1997). As noted earlier, incentives for work may also differ across cul­tures (Brown, 2000; Peterson & Gonzalez, 2000). Apparently, althoughindividuals have, to some extent, withdrawn from emotional involvementin work, the new incentives may include an increasing number ofexternalmotivators, such as the demand for steady pay increases and fringe ben­efits to compensate for the lack of job appeal and leisure time. One sur­vey by Kanter and Mirvis (1989) forcibly demonstrated how the workethic has been changing in American society:

[while] 30 percent of the American population strongly embraces all aspectsof the work ethic ... another 44 percent believes in the value of work but isless committed to the necessity of working as an end in itself. finally, 27percent of the work force rejects the value of work out of hand. (p. 189)

These are strong words about the future ofwork in U.S. society, espe­cially when viewed in the sobering aftermath and major erosion ofconfi­dence that have occurred following the numerous reports of mismanage­ment and overt, intentional deceit in the highest levels of management ofsome companies.

Conclusion and Implications

Work in U.S. society remains a highly significant aspect ofpeople's lives.Work not only provides food, shelter, and clothing but also, in manyways, frames a large part of self-esteem and satisfaction in life. In theUnited States, identity is often closely identified with the work role, butfor many people, the promises inherent in the old work ethic no longerseem valid (Peterson & Gonzalez, 2000; Yankelovich, 1978). It is pos­sible, even likely, that this set of circumstances may constitute a kind of"identity crisis" for people who strongly adhere to the principles of thework ethic. Perhaps the future of the work ethic is best described inWeber's (1904/1958) sensible and prophetic statement:

No one knows who will live in this cage in the future, or whether at the endof this tremendous development entirely new prophets will arise, or therewill be a great rebirth of old ideas and ideals, or, if neither, mechanizedpetrification, embellished with a sort of convulsive self-importance, (p. 182)

Implicit in these words are some simple instructions for career counse­lors. It seems likely that clients will increasingly be individuals who mayfeel that they have been let down by a system that is no longer economi­cally promising or psychologically fulfilling. Counselors need to be aware

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ofhow strongly held the work ethic may be and how it is often associatedwith the identity ofits adherents. In Weber's words that we have quoted,one also sees that the future and the very nature ofwork in society mayindeed be unknowable, and awareness of this ambiguity should assistcareer counselors in preparing their clients to be constantly ready for thechanges that will occur. Taken together, these statements suggest thenecessity of being sensitive to, and having empathy with, a client's valuesand of being proactivein helping clientsdeveloppersonallyfulfilling strategiesfor work. By extension, short- and long-term career planning will requirestill more attention than the current high priority that it is already ac­corded in career counseling.

As a point ofdeparture in the journey of rekindling their dedication tocounseling in the wake of the attack on the World Trade Center andother national tragedies that have been discussed previously in this ar­ticle, counselors might do well to revisit and rediscover their personal andprofessional commitment to counseling through intense and ongoing self­examination, perhaps modeled after Stephen Daedelus, the protagonistin James Joyce's (1916) A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, whorepeatedly seeks orientation and identification in terms of all facets oftime and space and in terms of his very essence. A similar question canbe asked of counselors: "Who are we, in the aftermath of such tragedyand on the path to renewal and empowerment for ourselves and ourclients?" In this search, as well, each of us, as career counselors, mightjoin Savickas (1995) and the career counselors who authored the ACES/NCDA PositionPaper:Preparing for Career Development in the New Mil­lennium (Hansen et al., 2000) as members of the Commission on Ca­reer Development in revisiting, editing, and revising our life-career biog­raphies, our personal stories, as one way to clearly ascertain and articu­late a sense of renewal and rededication to counseling, to a collectivenoble and empowering dedication to promoting personal worth, dignity,uniqueness, and potential for all, as so ably stated in the Preamble to theAmerican Counseling Association's (1995) ethical standards. Such a re­newal and rededication might be major landmarks for counselors in as­serting themselves in their work and in all facets of their lives. In turn,counselors might help clients orient and reorient in terms of these samemodels and stimuli (e.g., helping clients enhance self-knowledge and for­mulate or reconsider near- and long-term plans. Counselors who discernclient disorientation or a lack of future orientation and possible lack ofhope could use strategies for helping clients create hope by joining Savickas(Savickas, 1990; Savickas, Stilling, & Schwartz, 1984) in appreciatingthat everyone has a past and a present, but an individual's future, and hisor her sense of a future, might require moving beyond an immediatefocus to planful attention and implementation ofboth personal short- andlong-term goals.

Counselors might find considerable help, as well, in revisiting Macobyand Terzi's (1981) concept ofa self-fulfillment ethic; Hansen's (1999)poignant articulation ofSuper's sense ofhelping clients balance and evenintegrate work roles and responsibilities with other life roles and respon­sibilities; and Niles and Harris-Bowlsbey's (2002) echoing ofmany pointsfrom the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (1992),most notably a sense of educating clients for personal responsibility for

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career development and resilience, especially lifelong learning. In addi­tion, in these trying and perilous times, clients may find some stability ina long-standing concept of each person having one lifelong career andeach person's responsibility for personal career ownership and steward­ship (Engels, 1994; Hansen et aI., 2000). Seen in this light of one life­long career, a person's career can still be and feel stable despite anynumber of changes in jobs or other aspects of work. Moreover, in thisview, a person's career can be seen as partially internal to the person andneed not be viewed as totally external, again affording a fuller sense ofstability and personal control, even during times of change-includingsubtle and major changes in the work ethic.

Following this logic ofattending to internal personal control and inter­nal reality as well as attending to the real September 11 trauma andposttrauma that so many people experienced, career counselors might dowell to recall all the attention in the literature to the importance of per­sonal counseling as an inseparable element ofcareer counseling (Betz &Corning, 1993; Davidson & Gilbert, 1993). Considering the numerousperspectives and investigations into personal counseling as a prerequisiteto and an intrinsic aspect of career counseling, counselors might concen­trate attention on working with clients to assess the impact of the recenttragic events on a client's sense of security, autonomy, and other aspectsof client empowerment or disempowerment. In this regard, Savickas (1995)has offered considerable food for thought and action in helping clientsdiscern and narrate their individual life and career stories. Finally, allcounselors might continue working to conceptualize, formulate, articu­late, and advocate for a fuller array of work ethics, including a client'spersonal work ethic, that offer and encourage the empowerment of bothcounselors and clients without risking or compromising identity.

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