Why People Work If there were, in fact, some way of adding up the contribution to human satisfaction of the major human institutions in society, I would guess that work institutions contribute a surprisingly large share. Jobs and work do much more than most of us realize to provide happiness and contentment. We are all used to thinking that work provides the material things of life — the goods and services that make possible our version of modern civilization. But we are much less conscious of the extent to which work provides the more intangible, but more crucial, psychological well-being that can make the difference between a full and an empty life. Why is it that most of us do not put work and human satisfaction together, except when it comes to the end product of work: automobiles and houses and good food? It is always useful to blame someone else, and the Greeks of the ancient world deserve some blame here. At that time, work was restricted to slaves and to those few free citizens who had not yet accumulated adequate independent resources. The "real" citizens of Greece — whom Plato and others talked about — expected to spend their time in free discussion and contemplation. The Middle Ages did not help the reputation of work. It was said that man had a religious duty to fulfill his "calling." To fail to work was immoral — worse, work was thought of as a punishment for the sins of man. Historically, work has been associated with slavery and sin, compulsion and punishment. And in our own days we are used to hearing the traditional complaints: "I cannot wait for my vacation." "I wish I could stay home today." "My boss treats me poorly." "I've got too much work to do and not enough time to do it." Against this background, it may well be a surprise to learn that not only psychologists but other behavioral scientists have come to accept the positive contribution of work to the individual's happiness and sense of personal achievement. Work is more than a necessity for most human beings; it is the focus of their lives, the source of their identity and creativity. Rather than a punishment or a burden, work is the opportunity to realize one's potential. Many psychiatrists heading mental health clinics have observed its curing effect. A good many depressed patients who do nothing in clinics gain renewed self-confidence when gainfully employed, and lose some, if not all, of their most acute symptoms. Increasingly, institutions dealing with mental health problems are establishing workshops in which those too sick to get a job in "outside" world can work. And the opposite is true, too. For large numbers of people, the absence of work is frightening. Retirement often brings many problems surrounding the "What do I do with myself?" question, even though there may be no financial cares. Large numbers of people regularly get headaches and other mental discomfort on weekends when they do not have their jobs to go to. It has been observed that unemployment, besides exerting financial pressure, brings enormous psychological problems and that many individuals get old rapidly when jobless. But why? Why should work be such a significant source of human satisfaction? The answer greatly lies in the kind of pride that is stimulated by the job, by the activity of accomplishing. After all, large numbers of people continue working when there is no financial or other compulsion. They are independently wealthy; no one would be surprised if they spent their time at leisure. But something inside drives them to work: the unique satisfactions they derive from it. The human being craves a sense of being accomplished, of being able to do things, with his hand, with his mind, with his will. Each of us wants to feel he or she has the ability to do something that is meaningful. This extension of ourselves — in what our hands and minds can do — fills out our personality and expands our ego. It is easiest to see this in the craftsman who lovingly shapes some base material into an object that may be either useful or beautiful or both. You can see the carpenter or bricklayers or die-maker stand aside and admire the product of his personal skill. But even when there is no obvious end product that is solely attributable to one person's skill, researchers have found that employees find pride in accomplishment. Even the housekeeping and laundry staffs in a hospital take pride in the fact that in their own ways they are helping to cure sick people — and thus accomplishing a good deal. It is probably not much more sensible to ask the question about working to live and living to work than it is to play the "live-to-eat or eat-to-live" theme. The important point is that human beings would have to find some very effective substitutes for the personal satisfactions derived from working if they did not have to work. Many psychologists have real doubts about our capacities to use leisure — all the time in which we have to make our own decisions about what to do, whom to do it with and when to do it—to provide an equivalent amount of pride and fulfillment. To be sure, it can be done. But most of mankind has learned to derive this satisfaction from the world of work. Circle the letter of the best answer.