Work and Leisure

1. Work and Leisure Occupational and Lifestyle Issues in Young and Middle Adulthood Human Development: A Life-Span View Kail & Cavanaugh

2. The Meaning of Work • Most people work to make a living but also find meaning in their work • Research has found that people have four common ways in which personal fulfillment is derived from work • Developing and becoming self • Union with others • Expressing self • Serving others

3. Holland’s Theory of Occupational Choice Revisited • People pursue careers that are a good fit between their abilities and interests • Six personality types that combine these factors: investigative, social, realistic, artistic, conventional, and enterprising • Holland’s theory does not tell us much about the differences among ethnic groups or the match with personality type and occupational choices in adulthood

4. Occupational Development • How we advance within chosen occupations depends on many factors including • Expectations • Support from coworkers • Priorities • Job satisfaction

5. Super’s Theory • People progress along a continuum of vocational maturity through five stages • Implementation stage • Establishment stage • Maintenance stage • Deceleration stage • Retirement stage • Occupational aspirations at age 16 in the U.K. predicted occupational attainments at 33 • In the U.S., people change occupations several times during adulthood

6. Occupational Expectations • Research by Levinson has shown that there are several major life tasks for adults • Developing a dream is one of these tasks • Changing interests and failure can be cause for changing the dream • Leaving school and learning about the real world is often a time of reality shock for young adults

7. The Role of Mentors and Coaches • More experienced workers often communicate the most critical kinds of information rather than formal training • Mentors help young workers avoid trouble and explain the unwritten rules of the job • Mentors often guide young workers and help to ensure that they are noticed and get credit from supervisors

8. The Role of Mentors (Cont) • Kram described four phases of the mentoring relationship: • Initiation • Cultivation • Separation • Redefinition

9. Job Satisfaction • Job satisfaction tends to increase with age • Probably because with advancing age, workers tend to select and stay with jobs that satisfy them and move on from work that is less satisfying • Middle-aged workers tend to be more satisfied with the intrinsic rewards of work than they are with extrinsic rewards • As workers continue to grow older, work may not be as much of a focus of their lives • People change how they go about their work and jobs, resulting in a cyclical pattern to job satisfaction

10. Alienation • The feeling that what a worker is doing is meaningless, no relationship between what they do and the end product • The personality trait of cynicism is the factor most related to alienation • To reduce alienation, stay involved in the decision-making, develop flexible work schedules, and provide employee development

11. Burnout • Adepletion of a person’s energy and motivation • Results from stress, emotional exhaustion, and diminished personal accomplishment • Can be avoided by stress-reduction techniques, lowering people’s expectations of themselves, and enhancing communication with the organization

12. The Dependent Care Dilemma • Many mothers have to return to work after the birth of a baby • Some women struggle with the issue of returning to work, weighing financial need and the need to care for their children • Some women feel the need to return to work as a result of attachment to their work • The need to care for a parent or partner along with the lack of availability of affordable help forces many out of the workforce • Giving up work means a redefinition of one’s identity

13. Dependent Care and Effects of Workers • Women experience significant negative effects of being responsible for dependent care • 65% of women caring for a parent or partner work at least 35 hours • When responsible for the care of a parent, women report more missed meetings and more absences from work • Higher levels of stress results • Stress is decreased by having partners who provide support and having a job that allows for control over one’s work schedule

14. Institutionalized Assistance for Caregivers • Many governments provide government-supported child-care centers for employees • Providing child-care support is important, but positive impact is more often seen when supervisors are supportive and when benefits that employees consider important are provided • Better job security, autonomy, lower productivity demands, supervisor support, and flexible schedules are helpful

15. Work-Family Conflict • Dual-earner couples have difficulty finding time for each other • The amount of time is not necessarily the most important issue as long as they enjoy the time together and it is spent in shared activities

16. Work-Family Conflict • Cross-cultural data suggests that work and parenting-related burnout is more likely to affect women • However most women tend to find ways to cope with stress related to careers and family • The number of children, not the ages of the children, was found to be a significant factor in their success • Highest level of stress was during the peak parenting years when there were often at least two preschool children in the home

17. Division of Household Labor • Women spend up to 50% more hours per week than men in family work • Unequal division of labor is the greatest source of arguments and unhappiness in two-earner households • While men have increased the amount of time spent on household chores, the greatest amount of the increase is on the weekends

18. Division of Household Labor • The division of household labor is often the result of people’s experience with their parents’ assignment of chores • Men are more satisfied with the division of household labor • Women are not as concerned about the amount of time men spend on household chores as when there are certain “women’s chores” that men will not perform • Even when women enjoy doing tasks that are traditionally considered “women’s work,” they may still experience role strain when a partner does not also engage in these tasks

19. Support in the Home • Women are more satisfied when men take on tasks that are traditionally women’s chores • African American and Hispanic men spend more time on household chores than European American men • Regardless of cultural background, gender inequality was greatest for women employed full-time