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PYC1502 Exam summary unit 1-12
- Institution
- University Of South Africa (Unisa)
Summary of 41 pages for the course PYC1502 - Psychology In Society at Unisa (Study notes)
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Psychology in Society2
Notes
,Study Unit 1: Work
The Concept of Work
The socio-political (combination or interaction of socio-political factors) circumstances determines how
people view work.
The notion of work evolved along with the development of activities that people performed to meet the
demands of their circumstances and environment. This development can be traced through four
successive phases:
1. The hunter gather phase – all food is obtained from wild plants and animals. Individuals
mastered using the tools (which they viewed as an extension of their bodies) they had created
for the purpose of surviving. Work already characterised by skilful action, purpose and social
role.
2. The agricultural phase – agriculture and settlements, crop cultivation, small villages. Notion of
tools was broadened, they were seen as replacing the body altogether and being mediators of
work i.e. they didn’t always have to do the tasks themselves. Animals were domesticated to do
some tasks and humans started working for other people as well. Settled communities fought
wars to retain the natural resources, those that lost the battle were taken as slaves. The process
of managing resources arose.
3. The industrial development phase – improvement in human development, societies,
resources, health, energy usage. Work mediation tools replaced humans. Products
manufactured in factories and distributed by steam engines. Hierarchy of work established, with
managers necessary to oversee work. Brought the distinction between production and the
management of production. Notions such as qualification, job description, selection, training and
management were brought into being. Industrial age was encouraged by our need for physical
capacity.
4. The information processing phase – characterised by our need for intellectual power.
Computer technology is the tool of this phase and it brings together the industrial processes of
countries to form a global economy. The hierarchical structures are flatter, permanent jobs have
been replaced by temporary work, requiring multi-skilling. Notions such as the project team,
continuous training and development, CVs, personal management and being multiskilled began
in this phase.
The Ethic of Work
Work ethic is the principles of what is right and wrong in the work environment, which includes:
1. What people feel are their duties and obligations;
2. Nature of the relationship between employer and employee; and
3. Amount of freedom of choice they have.
All of this is a function of the socio-political circumstance & psychological make-up.
3
,Socio-Politics of Work Ethic
1. Feudal work ethic – Resources belonged to the leader (king), including the people, work was
assigned to people. Soldiers played a big part in society.
2. Market work ethic – increased trade amongst kingdoms and city states. People learnt to buy
and sell and make profit. Freed people from agriculture and weakened hold of kingship.
3. Freedom work ethic – economic freedom and greater levels of literacy brought a cultural and
social revival in Europe. People started make their own decisions and to measure their worth by
personal achievement and wealth. Notion of freedom conflicted with doctrines of the Roman
Catholic Church. Conflict came to a head with Protestant Reformation by Martin Luther in 1530.
4. Protestant work ethic – Protestants believed in goodness of work. One earned goodness
through working for the glory of God. Played an important role in development of modern
economic systems – WHY?
a) People should not be idle – use their time to work, because work is good
b) One must earn what one wants to use. Not entitled to anything unless you worked for it.
c) One should continually improve their skills so as to work better
d) People should not waste and consume more than needed to satisfy basic needs. Surplus to be
saved, or ploughed back to improve people’s circumstances. All of these aforementioned points
are considered as modern good economic principles.
5. Mechanistic work ethic – World seen as a giant machine, where everything, including people
fitted together like cogs of the machine. Scientific advances supported industrial development.
Characteristic of work become:
a) People being slotted into pre-defined jobs;
b) Performance was monitored and managed in hierarchical control structures;
c) Power and decision making with top management, communicated downwards;
d) Planning to reach goals.
6. Post-industrial work ethic – encouraged personal freedom. Based on the notion that the
world is a system, made up of other systems (subsystems). Humans function as living organisms,
which change dynamically and evolve in response to their environment.
7. Self-development work ethic - Shift from people as machines to people as living, evolving
systems is a shift from dependency to autonomy. It is a shift from self-agency, to greater self-
reliance. Change from:
a) Authoritarian environment – participatory management;
b) Hierarchically managed workers – self-determining work teams;
c) Pre-described jobs – dynamic work roles; and
d) Rigid implementation and pre-defined policies – flexible and adaptable work procedure.
4
, Psychology of Work Ethic
There are certain psychological factors that play a role in work ethic:
Locus of control Need for human fulfilment Personal
Need for Self-actualisation responsibility
achievement
Internal - Associated Do not focus on wealth, Desire to be free of A shift towards greater
with protestant work status and respect both self-imposed and freedom and personal
ethic, backed by organisational agency also means a
conservative attitudes constraints to develop shift to greater
and views = one’s full potential responsibility
commitment
Internal - Recognise Relates to internal Willingness to accept a
and meet obligations locus of control greater degree of
responsibility related to
internal locus of
control, need to
achieve and actualise
one’s self
Internal - Sense of duty Desire to be successful,
to agreements and overcome obstacles,
commitments accomplish difficult
tasks, and exercise
power
External – Feel lives are
dominated and
controlled by events
out of their control
External – do not like to
commit themselves
External – fail to meet
obligations, blaming
circumstance
Factors should not be seen in isolation from socio-political environment and cultural environments as
people are psychological beings with socio-political and cultural contexts.
5
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