Chapter 16 Introduction

Appendix B

Psychology at Work

B-1

Work and Life Satisfaction

Discovering Your Interests and Strengths

Finding Your Own Flow

Industrial-Organizational Psychology

Motivating Achievement

Grit

Satisfaction and Engagement

Leadership

Harnessing Strengths

Setting Specific, Challenging Goals

Choosing an Appropriate Leadership Style

THE JOBS PEOPLE DO: Columnist Gene Weingarten (2002) noted that sometimes a humor writer knows “when to just get out of the way.” Here are some sample job titles from the U.S. Department of Labor Dictionary of Occupational Titles: animal impersonator, human projectile, banana ripening-room supervisor, impregnator, impregnator helper, dope sprayer, finger waver, rug scratcher, egg smeller, bottom buffer, cookie breaker, brain picker, hand pouncer, bosom presser, mother repairer.

For most people, to live is to work. Work is life’s biggest single waking activity, helping to satisfy several levels of our needs. Work supports us, giving us food, water, and shelter. Work connects us, meeting our social needs. Work defines us, satisfying our self-esteem needs. Work helps us understand people we’ve met for the first time. Wondering who they are, we may ask, “So, what do you do?”

The answer, however, may give us only a fleeting snapshot of that person at a particular time and place. On the day we retire from the workforce, few of us will look back and say we have followed a predictable career path. We will have changed jobs, some of us often. The trigger for those changes may have been shifting needs in the economy. Or it may have been a desire for better pay, happier on-the-job relationships, or more fulfilling work.