Utilizing cross-sectional and panel data from the 1972-1973 and 1977 Quality of Employment surveys, this article investigates three explanations of age differences in work involvement. Differences in cohort and job characteristics appear to be more plausible determinants of differences in psychological involvement with a specific job, while overall subjective commitment to the labor force may be more influenced by developmental aging processes. However, the effects of age on the general work role may vary by gender and occupation, thus suggesting that the nature of developmental aging processes are partially a function of an individual's position in the social structure.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AGASSI, J. B.
(1982) Comparing the Work Attitudes of Women and Men. Lexington, MA: Lexington.
2.
ANDRISANI, P. J.
(1978) “Work attitudes and labor market experience: other findings,” pp. 135-174 in P. J. Andrisaniet al. (eds.) Work Attitudes and Labor Market Experiences. New York: Praeger.
3.
BARBASH, J.
, R. J. LAMPMAN, S. A. LEVITAN, and G. TYLER [eds.] (1983) The Work Ethic—A Critical Analysis. Madison, WI: Industrial Relations Research Assn.
4.
CHERRINGTON, D. J.
(1980) The Work Ethic. New York: AMACOM.
5.
COHN, R. M.
(1979) “Age and satisfaction from work.”J. of Gerontology34 (March): 264-272.
6.
CUMMING, E.
and W. HENRY (1961) Growing Old. New York: Basic Books.
7.
DANNEFER, D.
(1984) “Adult development and social theory: a paradigmatic reappraisal.”Amer. Soc. Rev.49 (February): 100-116.
8.
DENISON, E.
(1979) Accounting for Slower Economic Growth. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.
9.
ELDER, G. H.
(1974) Children of the Great Depression. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.
10.
FEATHERMAN, D. L.
and G. STEVENS (1977) “A revised index of occupational status: application in analysis of sex differences in attainment,” pp. 141-181 in R. M. Hauseret al. (eds.) Social Structure and Behavior. New York: Academic Press.
11.
GAERTNER, K. N.
(1984) “Work satisfaction and family responsibility correlates of employment among nurses.”Work and Occupations11 (November): 439-460.
12.
GLENN, N. D.
(1977) Cohort Analysis. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
13.
GLENN, N. D.
(1980) “Values, attitudes, and beliefs,” pp. 569-640 in O. G. Brim and J. Kagan (eds.) Constancy and Change in Human Development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press.
14.
HALL, D. T.
(1976) Careers in Organizations. Santa Monica, CA: Goodyear.
15.
HANUSHEK, E. A.
and J. E. JACKSON (1977) Statistical Methods for Social Scientists. New York: Academic Press.
16.
HEDGES, J. N.
(1983) “Job commitment in America: is it waxing or waning?”Monthly Labor Rev.106 (May): 17-24.
17.
HOCHSCHILD, A. R.
(1975) “Disengagement theory: a critique and proposal.”Amer. Soc. Rev.40 (October): 553-569.
18.
HODSON, R.
and T. A. SULLIVAN (1985) “Totem or tyrant? Monopoly, regional, and local sector effects on worker commitment.”Social Forces (March): 716-731.
19.
JASON, P.
and J. K. MARTIN (1982) “Job satisfaction and age: a test of two views.”Social Forces60 (June): 1089-1102.
20.
JÖRESKOG, K. G.
and D. SÖRBOM (1984) LISREL—Analysis of Linear Structural Relationship by Method of Maximum Likelihood (3rd ed.). Mooresville, IN: Scientific Software.
21.
KALLEBERG, A. L.
and K. A. LOSCOCCO (1983) “Aging, values, and rewards: explaining age differences in job satisfaction.”Amer. Soc. Rev.48 (February): 78-90.
22.
KANUNGO, R. N.
(1982) Work Alienation. New York: Praeger.
23.
KOHN, M. J.
and C. SCHOOLER with the collaboration of J. MILLER, K. A. MILLER, C. SCHOENBACH, and R. SCHOENBERG (1983) Work and Personality: An Inquiry into the Impact of Social Stratification. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
24.
LACY, W. B.
, J. L. BOKEMEIER, and J. M. SHEPARD (1983) “Job attribute preferences and work commitment of men and women in the United States.”Personal Psychology36 (Summer): 315-329.
25.
LEVINSON, D. J.
, C. N. DARROW, M. B. LEVINSON, and B. McKEE (1978) The Seasons of a Man's Life. New York: Knopf.
26.
LEVITAN, S. A.
and C. M. JOHNSON (1983) “The survival of work,” pp. 1-25 in J. Barbashet al. (eds.) The Work Ethic—A Critical Analysis. Madison, WI: Industrial Relations Research Assn.
27.
LORENCE, J.
and J. T. MORTIMER (1981) “Work experience and work involvement.”Sociology of Work and Occupations8 (August): 297-326.
28.
LORENCE, J.
and J. T. MORTIMER (1985) “Job involvement through the life course: a panel study of three age groups.”Amer. Soc. Rev.50 (October): 618-638.
29.
MANNHEIM, B.
(1975) “A comparative study of work centrality, job rewards, and satisfaction.”Sociology of Work and Occupations2 (February): 79-102.
30.
MANNHEIM, B.
(1983) “Male and female industrial workers: job satisfaction, work role centrality, and work place preference.”Work and Occupations10 (November): 413-436.
31.
MANNHEIM, B.
and A. COHEN (1978) “Multivariate analyses of factors affecting work centrality of occupational categories.”Human Relations31 (June): 525-553.
32.
MANNHEIM, B.
and J. REIN (1981) “Work centrality of different age groups and the wish to discontinue work.”International J. of Aging and Human Development13: 221-232.
33.
MOEN, P.
and K. R. SMITH (1986) “Women at work: commitment and behavior over the life course.”Soc. Forum1 (3): 450-474.
34.
MORROW, P. C.
(1983) “Concept redundancy in organizational research: the case of work commitment.”Academy of Management Rev.8 (July): 485-500.
35.
MORSE, N. C.
and R. S. WEISS (1955) “The function and meaning of work and the job.”Amer. Soc. Rev.20 (April): 191-198.
36.
MORTIMER, J. T.
(1979) “Changing attitudes toward work.”Studies in Productivity: Highlights of the Literature (Vol. 11). Scarsdale, NY: Work in America Institute.
37.
PATCHEN, M.
(1965) Some Questionnaire Measures of Employee Motivations and Morale. Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research.
38.
PATCHEN, M.
(1970) Participation, Achievement, and Involvement on the Job. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
39.
POLACHECK, S. W.
(1975) “Potential biases in measuring male-female discrimination.”J. of Human Resources10 (Spring): 205-229.
40.
QUINN, J. F.
(1983) “The work ethic and retirement,” pp. 87-100 in J. Barbashet al. (eds.), The Work Ethic—A Critical Analysis. Madison, WI: Industrial Relations Research Assn.
41.
QUINN, R. P.
and L. J. SHEPARD (1974) The 1972-73 Quality of Employment Survey. Ann Arbor, MI: Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research.
42.
QUINN, R. P.
and G. L. STAINES (1979) The 1977 Quality of Employment Survey. Ann Arbor, MI: Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research.
43.
RABINOWITZ, S.
and D. T. HALL (1981) “Changing correlates of job involvement in three career stages.”J. of Vocational Behavior18 (April): 138-144.
44.
SAAL, F. E.
(1978) “Job involvement: a multivariate approach.”J. of Applied Psychology63 (February): 53-61.
45.
SAFILIOS-ROTHCHILD, C.
(1971) “Towards the conceptualization and measurement of work commitment.”Human Relations24 (December): 489-493.
46.
SEKARAN, U.
and R. T. MOWDAY (1981) “A cross-cultural analysis of the influence of individual and job characteristics on job involvement.”International Rev. of Applied Psychology30: 51-64.
47.
SNIZEK, W. E.
and R. E. LITTLE (1984) “Accounting for occupational and organizational commitment: a longitudinal reexamination of structural and attitudinal approaches.”Soc. Perspectives27 (April): 181-196.
48.
SONNENFELD, J.
and J. P. KOTTER (1982) “The maturation of career theory.”Human Relations35 (January): 19-46.
49.
STIMSON, J. A.
, E. G. CARMINES, and R. A. ZELLER (1978) “Interpreting polynomial regression.”Soc. Methods and Research6 (May): 515-523.
50.
SUPER, D. E.
(1957) The Psychology of Careers. New York: Harper.
51.
WALKER, J. E.
, C. TAUSKY, and D. OLIVER (1982) “Men and women at work: similarities and differences in work values within occupational groupings.”J. of Vocational Behavior21 (August): 17-36.
52.
WRIGHT, J. D.
and R. F. HAMILTON (1978) “Work satisfaction and age: some evidence for the `job change' hypothesis.”Social Forces56 (June): 1140-1158.
53.
YANKELOVICH, D.
(1979) “Work, values, and the new breed,” pp. 3-26 in C. Kerr and J. M. Rosow (eds.) Work in America: The Decade Ahead. New York: Van Nostrand.
