CHAPTER
11
NOTES AND
TEST
WORK AND
LEISURE
Occupational Selection and Development
1. The meaning of work
a. The majority of people work for money, but there are other reasons also
b. b.Today occupational priorities have change; workers have lower expectations from their occupations and emphasis on personal growth potential is higher
2. Holland’s theory of occupational choice revisited
a. His theory is based on the idea that people choose occupations in order to optimize the fit between their individual traits and their occupational interests
b. Six different personality types that represent different combinations of these have been identified. Several studies have provided support for these types.
3. Occupational Development
a. Super proposed a developmental view of occupations, that is based on self-concept and adaptation to an occupational role. He described five stages:
1. implementation
2. establishment
3. maintenance
4. deceleration
5. retirement
b. Predictors of occupational success are family and ethnic background, the level of formal education, intelligence and personality
c. Reality shock – the realization that the expectations the individual had about an occupation are different than the reality. Reality shock is more common among young workers
d. Mentor – is a co-worker who teaches a new employee the unwritten rules and fosters occupational development
4. Job Satisfaction
a. Older workers report higher satisfaction while younger worker report less job satisfaction. This may be partly due to self-selection. Unhappy workers usually quit
b. Other reasons include: intrinsic satisfaction, good fit, lower importance of work, finding nonwork diversions, and life-cycle factors
c. Important consideration in understanding job satisfaction are alienation and burnout. Both contribute to significant stress for workers
Gender, Ethnicity and Discrimination Issues
1. Gender Differences in Occupational Development
a. Boys and girls are usually socialized different for work. Research suggests that this might be the reason why women intentionally avoid high-prestige occupations as a result.
b. Some women choose nontraditional occupations for a number of reasons, including expectations and personal feelings. Women in such occupations are still today viewed more poorly than men in the same occupation
c. Between women in traditional and nontraditional occupations fewer differences exist
2. Women and occupational development
a. Some of the reasons women leave well-paid occupations include: family obligations and workplace environment
b. Usually women who continue to work full time have adequate child care and they look for ways to further their occupational development
3. Etnicity and occupational development
a. Across ethnic groups vocational identity and goals vary. A strong predictor of satisfaction among ethnic minority employees is whether an organization they work for is sensitive to ethnicity issues
4. Bias and discrimination
a. One of the major barriers to women’s occupational development is sex discrimination which operates as a glass ceiling
b. Another problem is pay inequity, women are paid less of what men earn in similar jobs
c. Another problem in the workplace is sexual harassment. The criteria for judging harassment are based on the reasonable woman standard
d. Age discrimination is denying employment to anyone over the age of 40
Occupational transitions
1. Retaining workers
a. Many companies corporations in order to address pressures of a global economy and an aging workforce, provide retraining opportunities to workers
b. Retaining workers is important in addressing skills deficits and career plateauing
2. Occupational insecurity
a. Some of the reasons why people change occupations include: personality, obsolescence and economic factors
b. A growing problem today is occupational insecurity. The fear that an individual may lose his/her job is a better predictor of anxiety than the actual likelihood of losing one’s job
3. Coping with unemployment
a. When an individual loses his job is a traumatic event that has the potential of affecting every aspect of a that individual’s life. Best predictors of distress are the degree of financial distress and the attachment the individual had to the job
Work and family
1. The dependent care dilemma
a. A predictor of whether a woman returns to work after having a child depends on how attached she is to her work
b. A group that has been overlooked is the group of employed caregivers that are caring for a parent or a partner
c. Lower levels of stress have been reported by women who have supportive partners and high control over their jobs
d. Just providing child care on-site does not always result in higher job satisfaction. The most important factor is the degree to which the employer is sympathetic
2. Juggling multiple roles
a. Although the amount of time women spend on household tasks has decreased over the past decades, women still do most of the housework
b. Research has found that European American men are less likely than African American or Hispanic men to help with traditional female household tasks
c. Work-family conflict – the feeling one has of being pulled in different directions by demands that are incompatible
d. Important factors in understanding work-family conflicts are flexible work schedules and number of children
e. Women are more likely to be affected by burnout from work and parenting
Time to relax: leisure activities
1. Types of leisure activities
a. Leisure activities include preoccupations and interests
b. Most people develop a repertoire of preferred leisure activities
c. Those activities are determined by perceived competence and psychological comfort
2. Developmental changes in leisure
a. As individuals grow older, they engage in leisure activities that are less strenuous and more family oriented
b. Leisure preferences in adulthood are a reflection of those leisure activities the individual engaged earlier in life
3. Consequences of leisure activities
a. Leisure activities are an important aspect in people’s lives and produce a feeling of well-being