Survival or Self-Actualization? Meanings of Work in Contemporary Poland

• Authors: Maja Sawicka , Agnieszka Karlińska
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

This paper analyzes the meanings attributed to work in contemporary Polish society in the context of Inglehart and Welzel’s claim regarding the passage from survival to self-expression values. Research has documented a systematic decline in the position of work on the list of the most important values. However, work is also documented as being of fundamental importance for identity, self-esteem, and the delimitation of social categories. The authors offer a mixed-methods approach to the issue of work. Based on quantitative data gathered through the EVS, they place Poland in the context of European trends pertaining to the significance and centrality of work. Using qualitative evidence, the authors identify and reconstruct the key social representations employed to think about and discuss work-related issues. In conclusion, they point to structural elements of the social imaginary of work that result in the coexistence of different (often contradictory) perceptions of this sphere of social life.

Keywords

EN

work; social representations; mixed-methods approach; EVS; meanings of work; changes in values

• Publisher: Polskie Towarzystwo Socjologiczne
• Journal: Polish Sociological Review
• Year: 2021
• Volume: 214
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 199-220

Dates

published

2021-06-18

received

2020-09-14

revised

2021-03-02

Contributors

author

Maja Sawicka

• University of Warsaw

author

Agnieszka Karlińska

• University of Warsaw

Identifiers

DOI

10.26412/psr214.04