TY - JOUR
T1 - Organizational membership vs self-employment
T2 - Another blow to the American dream
AU - Eden, Dov
N1 - Funding Information:
'This article is based on the author's doctoral dissertation entitled "Comparison of Organizational Membership and Self-employment," completed at the University of Michigan. The author is grateful for the help provided by Stanley E. Seashore, chairman of his doctoral committee, Ernest Harburg, Robert L. Kahn, Daniel Katz and J. B. Ritchie, who also served on the committee, and Allen I. Kraut for his comments on a later draft of this article. The material in this study was prepared under Grant Number 91-24-70-49 to the author from the Manpower Administration, U.S. Department of Labor. The author is indebted to Robert P. Quinn for making the national survey data available. Margaret Mc-Cullough assisted.
PY - 1975/2
Y1 - 1975/2
N2 - The contention that membership in work organizations has ill effects upon individual well-being was tested by comparing national survey data for 1,902 members and 183 self-employed workers. Formerly established demographic differences between self-employed and wage-and-salary workers were replicated. While major differences were not revealed in work values, measures of characteristics of the work setting showed that the self-employed enjoy more enriching job requirements, opportunities for self-fulfilment and skill-utilization, autonomy, physical working conditions, authority over other persons, resources with which to do the job, and several other generally highly prized features of their job settings. Members reported more friendly relations with co-workers, greater job security, and more convenient hours. All in all the self-employed appeared to have more favorable job settings: nonetheless they showed only a slight edge over members in job satisfaction and role strain, and no edge at all in mental health. Multiple classification analysis supported the interpretation of these findings as evidence that organizational membership has a positive net effect upon psychological outcomes. The evidence presented is consistent with the conclusion that self-employment, despite its numerous other advantages, does not provide workers with the greater psychological benefits promised by the American dream.
AB - The contention that membership in work organizations has ill effects upon individual well-being was tested by comparing national survey data for 1,902 members and 183 self-employed workers. Formerly established demographic differences between self-employed and wage-and-salary workers were replicated. While major differences were not revealed in work values, measures of characteristics of the work setting showed that the self-employed enjoy more enriching job requirements, opportunities for self-fulfilment and skill-utilization, autonomy, physical working conditions, authority over other persons, resources with which to do the job, and several other generally highly prized features of their job settings. Members reported more friendly relations with co-workers, greater job security, and more convenient hours. All in all the self-employed appeared to have more favorable job settings: nonetheless they showed only a slight edge over members in job satisfaction and role strain, and no edge at all in mental health. Multiple classification analysis supported the interpretation of these findings as evidence that organizational membership has a positive net effect upon psychological outcomes. The evidence presented is consistent with the conclusion that self-employment, despite its numerous other advantages, does not provide workers with the greater psychological benefits promised by the American dream.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0003099963&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/0030-5073(75)90006-9
DO - 10.1016/0030-5073(75)90006-9
M3 - מאמר
AN - SCOPUS:0003099963
VL - 13
SP - 79
EP - 94
JO - Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
JF - Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
SN - 0749-5978
IS - 1
ER -
