1. CHAPTER TWELVE Work, Leisure, and Retirement

2. Occupational priorities: motivations for employment
The Meaning of Work
Occupational priorities: motivations for employment
Money
Prestige
Recognition
Sense of worth

3. Holland’s Theory of Occupational Choice
People choose occupations that optimize the fit between their individual traits and their occupational interests.
Six personality types have been identified:

4. Super’s Theory of Occupational Development
Super describes five stages in adulthood, based on self-concept and adaptation to an occupational role.
Implementation
Establishment
Maintenance
Deceleration
Retirement
The more congruent a person’s occupational behaviors are with what is expected of them at different ages, the more vocationally mature they are.

5. Occupational Expectations
Reality Shock -- The realization that one’s expectations about an occupation are different from the reality one experiences, including:
the job not fitting with one’s dream
age, race, or sexual discrimination
lack of opportunity
obsolescence of skills
Reality shock is most common among young workers and people with little relevant experience prior to assuming a new job.
The outcome of reality shock is often a revision of personal priorities in life.

6. Job Satisfaction
Job satisfaction: the positive feelings that result from an appraisal of one’s work
Job satisfaction tends to increase with age, due to:
self-selection (unhappy workers may quit).
intrinsic satisfaction
good fit
lower importance of work
finding non-work diversions
life-cycle factors

7. Alienation and Burnout
Alienation—feeling that what one is doing is meaningless
Burnout—too much stress in one’s occupation—can lead to:
Loss of energy and motivation
Loss of occupational idealism
Feeling that one is being exploited

8. Bias and Discrimination
Sex discrimination
Denying a job to someone solely on the basis of gender
Can affect getting a job, occupational development, and also pay.
Glass ceiling
The level to which women and ethnic minorities may rise in a company, but not go beyond
This is a barrier to promotion.
Glass elevator
In traditionally female occupations, men may rise much faster than female counterparts.

9. Bias and Discrimination
Pay inequity
Women sometimes get paid a fraction of what men with similar jobs earn.
Sexual harassment
The reasonable woman (person) standard is used to decide whether an act constitutes harassment:
If a reasonable woman
would view a behavior
as offensive, then it is
offensive even if the man
did not conceive it as so.

10. Age Discrimination
Making employment decisions only on the basis of age
Denying employment or promotion if the worker is over the age of 40
Differential layoff patterns
Stereotypical views about older workers
According to the U.S. Census Bureau:
About 49% of workers 55 to 64 years old find employment
65% to 70% of workers under 35 find new employment

11. Occupational Change Factors influencing occupational change include:
Dislike
Which results in quitting or seeking other employment
Worker obsolescence
For example, technological developments that eliminate jobs
Economic factors which result in layoffs or downsizing
For example, recessions

12. Dual-Earner Couples
In nearly 2/3 of two-parent households, both adults work outside the home.
Nearly 1/2 of unmarried mothers and 56% of married mothers with children under the age of 1 are currently in the work force.
These numbers are increasing.

13. The Dependent Care Dilemma
Whether a women returns to work after having a child depends largely on how attached she is to her work.
Inter-role conflict:
Conflicts between work and family responsibilities
Flexible work schedules and number of children are important factors in role conflict.

14. Dependent Care and Employer Response
The mere availability of a workplace childcare center does not always result in higher job satisfaction.
Sympathetic supervisors are essential to lowering the stress of how child care issues can be resolved.

15. Juggling Multiple Roles
Dividing household chores
Working mothers spend about twice as many hours per week as their husbands in family work and bear the greatest responsibility for household tasks.
Unequal division of labor is a major cause for arguments and unhappiness.

16. Work-Family Conflict
The feeling of being pulled in multiple directions by incompatible demands from one’s job and one’s family
How to deal with work-family conflict successfully
Women must be clear in their commitment to their careers,
marriage, and children.
Couples equally share housework and emotional work, and combine their roles without high levels of stress.
Stress is higher during the peak parenting years, then is reduced.

17. Types of Leisure Activities
Four categories are usually used to help organize leisure activities:
Cultural
Physical
Social
Solitary
Leisure activities can also be considered in terms of the degree of involvement in these areas:
Cognitive
Emotional

18. Types of Leisure Activities
People develop a repertoire of preferred leisure activities.
Each activity has a different meaning and importance to every individual.
The activities are determined by perceived competence and psychological comfort.
Perceived competence - how good we think we are at the activity compared to others.
Psychological comfort - how well we meet our personal goals for performance.

19. Developmental Changes in Leisure
Longitudinal research shows that leisure preferences in adulthood reflect those in earlier life.
However, as people grow older they tend to engage in leisure activities that are less strenuous and more family-oriented.
Leisure activities promote well-being and can enhance all aspects of people’s lives.
Positive effects are based on the amount of satisfaction you derive from your leisure activities, not your level of participation (quality vs. quantity)

20. Retirement
Retirement is largely a development of the 20th century and is still an evolving concept.
What does being retired mean?
The way in which people withdraw from full-time employment
Changing conceptions of work are resulting in changing conceptions of retirement.
Retirement can be crisp or blurred.
Crisp - making a clean break from employment by stopping work entirely.
Blurred - repeatedly leaving and returning to work, with some periods of unemployment.

21. Planning for Retirement
Financial planning and realistic expectations toward retirement are important predictors of future satisfaction.
People who plan for retirement tend to be more successful in adapting to this major life change.
Pre-retirement education programs cover a variety of topics, including finances, attitudes, health, and expectations.

22. Adjustment to Retirement
Retirement is an important life transition and can be stressful.
However, the degree of stress is related to attitudes toward retirement and whether retirement is voluntary.
Most people are satisfied with their retirement, as long as people:
Have financial security
Have their health
Have a supportive network of relatives
and friends