Work,Life and the Pursuit of Happiness: A Study of Australian Industrial Workers

Abstract

Debate about the meaning of work raises the additional question of what kind of relationship people establish between their work and non-work lives. This paper examines three options from which 1468 Australian shop-floor workers were asked to choose: (1) complete separation of work and non-work activities; (2) spill-over of work into non-work functions; and (3) spill-over of non-work into work. Analysis reveals the relationship between these choices and how satisfied workers are with their jobs and their lives. While the work spill-over orientation is weakly related to job satisfaction, none of the work-non-work perspectives is significantly related to satisfaction with life. The paper concludes by returning to the question of the meaning of work and how important work is in the pursuit of 'the good life'.

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