ABSTRACT
The ‘work ethic’ holds that labour is good in itself; that a man or woman becomes a better person by virtue of act of working. America’s competitive spirit, ‘work ethic’ of this people, is alive and well on Labour Day, 1971. This chapter is primarily concerned with two issues – the origin and maintenance of PWE beliefs and behaviours in the individual; and the distribution of these beliefs and behaviours in a culture, sub-culture, or country. The aetiology of these beliefs will be considered primarily at the level of the individual, that is psychologically. The origin of these beliefs in a group (religious or otherwise), their spread, and maintenance is essentially a sociological question, indeed part of the great PWE debate. Finally, parental practices may be reinforced or extinguished by secondary experiences at school or in other social groups, suggesting that parental practices and childhood experiences may as well serve to cancel each other out as to replicate each other.
