ABSTRACT
At the level of everyday discourse, we could say that people work for a variety of obvious reasons. They need food, shelter, clothing, transportation, and social contact; and work and the money that is obtained from it are the major way in the modern world by which they get these things. For the social psychologist and the psychologist of religion, however, such “ordinary life” analyses are not sufficient. Instead, we need to know what social and mental processes regulate why people go to work, sustain work over the long haul, do or do not overcome the problems that occur therein, and find identity and meaning in it. We believe that knowledge of these things can help create healthier work environments and provide the psychological model for both improving worker performance and at the same time minimizing conflict, stress, and worker dissatisfaction.
