The Instrumentally Oriented Factory Worker

Abstract

The factory worker has long been identified as instrumentally oriented to work (viewing work as a means to achieve economic ends), yet we still have relatively little understanding of what he or she values from work and why. With work orientation reconceptualized as the extent to which individuals value economic as well as intrinsic job rewards, the joint impact of personal and work-related properties on the extrinsic and intrinsic work values of factory workers are examined systematically. The survey results are consistent with theoretical arguments deriving from different perspectives: The extent to which such workers value each type of reward is affected partially by their general values and their perceptions of needs, which are a result of nonwork social position. In addition, the character of the job has an important impact, since people tend to value what is most available from work. These conclusions are buttressed by information from intensive interviews. The notion that factory workers are instrumentally oriented to work is rejected.

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