ABSTRACT
Part of the conception of the self includes what Robert Dubin calls “central life interests ” In recent years, much of the research on the sociology of work has dealt with the professions or occupations “on the make” (that is, in the process of professionalization). It is not surprising, then, that considerable commitment of self to work has been discovered. However, on the basis of his study of industrial workers, Professor Dubin suggests that the kind of commitment found among professional, quasi-professional, or professionalizing groups is absent among industrial workers. To them, work is not a “central life interest” in the sense that the family and the community are. These findings should be read in the light of Tamotsu Shibutanïs more theoretical discussion of reference groups.
