Enjoyment of Work by Full-Time Workers in the U.S., 1955 and 1980

Two questions concerning enjoyment of work asked on a 1955 AmericanGallup Poll were asked on a 1980 United States national surveyto gauge the net change during a quarter of a century. Onlythe responses of persons employed full-time were used for thisstudy. Indicated enjoyment of work was substantially lower in1980 than in 1955. The difference was especially great for manualworkers, Protestants, and older persons. A tentative conclusiondrawn from examining trend data for one birth cohort is thatthe change resulted from cohort succession and from orientationsand attitudes members of younger cohorts brought to their workrather than from changes in work conditions which affected workersof all ages and in all birth cohorts. Some implications of thefindings are disscussed.