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Work Values
Individuals hold central beliefs about two broad aspects of work. First, they have beliefs regarding how they ought to behave in work-relevant contexts (working hard, acting with integrity, respecting others). Second, they have preferences regarding what the work environment will provide for them (a challenging job, high pay). Although authors have usually focused on one or the other of these different approaches to work values, they are, in fact, related. Work values defined as generalized beliefs about modes of conduct at work form a primary component of the self-schema, the ought self, whereas work preferences compose a part of the desired self. Self-relevant beliefs tend to be the most deeply held and influential of cognitions, and thus values are stable and central beliefs, having powerful influences on other cognitions, motivation, and action in the workplace. Work values are not merely evaluative responses; they are embedded within self-identity.
Based on the preceding definitions, work values defined in the ought frame are a powerful influence on preferences regarding objects or organizational characteristics. Work values, as they address one of a very few primary domains in life, act as an organizing structure for much of the rest of our system of cognition. Perceptions, motivation, attitudes, and opinions are all subject to this structure. Many concepts thought of as factual are influenced by work value systems, for example, the belief that jobs that require more responsibility also require more pay.
Structure and Origin of Work Values
Most authors conceptualize the structure of individual work value systems as ordered in terms of their impact on evaluations of objects, events, and behavior at work; but others have disagreed with such a ranking approach. Because values are socially desirable, individuals tend to learn them in an all-or-nothing fashion as children (always be honest, always achieve the highest possible level of performance). As individuals mature, they integrate these beliefs into a value system. This leads to the necessity of choosing one value over another when they come into contact with conflict; but over time, individuals may try to represent multiple values in their behavior.
Several general categories of work values are commonly identified; these typically include extrinsic or instrumental values (high pay), intrinsic or cognitive values (a challenging job), relational or social values (respectful relationships between coworkers), and power or self-enhancement values (gaining promotion or status). They are seen as more specific manifestations of general life values, but it may be argued that work values also affect life values over time. Evidence tends to support this spillover relationship between life and work values; however, it has also been proposed that a compensatory model may represent the relationship between different domains. For example, if individuals are particularly driven to achieve extrinsic outcomes at work, they may focus on relationships in their personal lives. This conceptualization has received minimal support to date.
Differences in work values may also be traced to cultural values based on the developmental history of particular nations or regions. A small number of value dimensions seems to generalize across national cultures; thus such values are pivotal in understanding differences in such work-related cognition and behavior as communication, conflict resolution, and status organizing processes. Research on cultural values indicates that general clusters of these values revolve around basic problems that all human societies must
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- Foundations: History
- Army Alpha/Army Beta
- Hawthorne Studies/Hawthorne Effect
- History of Industrial/Organizational Psychology in Europe and the United Kingdom
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- Path–Goal Theory
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- Social Cognitive Theory
- Telecommuting
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- Two-Factor Theory
- Work Motivation
- Workaholism
- Industrial Psychology: Leadership and Management
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- Trust
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- Workplace Romance
- Industrial Psychology: Employee Well-Being and Attitudes
- Affective Events Theory
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- Eustress
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- Stress, Consequences
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- Theory of Reasoned Action/Theory of Planned Behavior
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- Organizational Structure
- Outsourcing
- Shiftwork
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- Survivor Syndrome
- Terrorism and Work
- Theory of Action
- Total Quality Management
- Virtual Organizations
- Workplace Injuries
- Workplace Safety
- Professional Organizations and Related Fields
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