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UNDERSTANDING ADAPTATION TO WORK IN ADULTHOOD: A CONTEXTUAL DEVELOPMENTAL APPROACH

Daniel M. Hyson Socialization is viewed by developmental psychologists and sociologists as a process by which individuals learn the values, beliefs, and skills deemed appropriate and important by the societies in which they live, allowing them to adapt to their environments and function effectively within their communities (Kimmel, 1990; Mortimer & Simmons, 1978; Shaffer, 1999). While the study of socialization in both disciplines has historically focused on childhood and adolescence, much recent sociological work has stressed how earlier socialization experiences can affect adult adaptation. As a factor promoting adaptation to the work setting, we examine the "work ethic." Persons who possess a strong work ethic not only describe work as an important part of their lives and their identities, but also demonstrate its importance through responsible behavior at work. Several components of the work ethic have been assessed: work "involvement," "self-concept," "identity," and "readiness." The first three of these dimensions (see Lawler & Hall, 1970; Mortimer & Lorence, 1995) refer to the salience of work for one's life, identity and personality. The fourth, work readiness, references the behavioral expression of the work ethic, the extent to which workers demonstrate that they understand and can perform the responsibilities and duties required of them in a job. Few, however, have simultaneously examined both psychological and

Advances in Life Course Research, Volume 7, pages 93--110. Copyright © 2002 by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. ISBN: 0-7623-0863-X

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behavioral components of the work ethic. We believe that this is essential to understanding successful performance in the work setting in adulthood. The longitudinal study we describe later in this chapter examines the work ethic from this multifaceted perspective. To understand adult adaptation to work, we must not only address what occurs in the work context, but also individuals' experiences and behaviors in other contexts and at prior developmental stages. To explain individual differences in the work ethic, prior socialization in the family, peer groups, schools and neighborhoods, and the ways in which these experiences affect the process of socialization to the work setting, must be examined. Experiences in non-work settings both affect, and are affected by, experiences in the work setting. To best address the effects of this range of variables that cut across both age periods and contexts, we employ an integrative model that is organismic, contextual, and developmental in orientation. This model draws upon at least two popular perspectives: the eco-developmental approach proposed by Szapocznik and Coatsworth (1999) and the developmental-contextual view described by Vondracek, Lerner and Schulenberg (1986). Szapocznik and Coatsworth's framework takes Urie Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological systems theory and builds upon it, adding a prominent developmental perspective. The authors highlight how the ever-changing salience of, and interaction between, multiple factors across time influence the development of an outcome. Individuals must negotiate different salient tasks at successive stages of their development; their resolution of these tasks is influenced by various sets of factors at each stage. While originally set forth to predict drug abuse, this model provides a promising framework for integrating past research on pathways to competence in the young adult work domain. Using this multisystem, integrative perspective, we may take account of both the contextual influences (e.g. socio-economic factors) that are the focus of much sociological research in this area, as well as the individual and social factors (e.g. intelligence, academic achievement) highlighted in psychological studies. Vondracek, Lerner and Schulenberg's (1986) model is similar to Szapocznik and Coatsworth's, but it provides additional emphasis on the role of the individual in shaping his or her own development. Drawing on person-in-context models of development, these authors stress that it is the goodness-of-fit between person and environment that is most important. The fit at one point in time elicits feedback, which then has an impact on individual choices and later outcomes. From these frameworks, three primary hypotheses were generated. First, we predicted that measures of initiative across developmental stages, as well as academic achievement, would be related to elements of the work ethic in

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adulthood. It is widely understood that success in school leads to success in the workplace. Much empirical support for this linkage derives from the longstanding sociological research tradition in status attainment (Featherman, 1980; Grusky & DiPrete, 1990). Academic potential and high school achievement predict students' plans for post-secondary education (Pimentel, 1996; Tiggemann & Winefield, 1989). The amount of schooling a person obtains is a strong influence on occupational prestige and earnings (Pallas, 2000). Academic achievement during high school is thus a meaningful predictor of success given its relevance for college admission and post-secondary educational attainment. Grades and other indicators of academic success are also expected to be important, given their relation to cognitive skills, for those who seek employment immediately after graduating from high school. The skills tested in most schools and on most achievement tests, however, do not include all the aptitudes a student may need to succeed. Indeed, recent work has begun to suggest that doing well on achievement tests may not be the only school-related measure of interest in predicting adult work. Developmental and educational policy research has consistently indicated that functional and social skills acquired in school predict adaptation to work later in life. If, in school, children learn certain work-relevant competencies (e.g. how to self-regulate, work independently, and interact effectively with others), they will be more likely to embark on a pathway to success in the work world (Grubb, 1989; Hyson & Roisman, 1999; Levinson, 1995; Levinson & Bran&, 1997; Peterson, 1982). Erikson (1968), in fact, argued that the most significant task of this period is for children to develop a sense of "industry," defined by Erikson as a belief that the child can "make things and make things well" (p. 124). Our second hypothesis was that socioeconomic status (SES) would likely affect role models and educational and training opportunities available to youth earlier in life. Poor children have more limited access to quality education and are less likely than their more advantaged counterparts to graduate from high school or to get a GED (Kozol, 1991; Stem & Eichom, 1989). It may be more difficult for students in inner-city schools to meet national performance standards, such as those outlined in the School-to-Work Opportunities Act (STWOA) of 1994 and GOALS 2000, due to the more limited school funding, teacher training and access to resources (Wilson, 1996). Without this training, youth would likely find it more difficult to develop the necessary functional and social skills to make a successful transition to adult work. Third, middle childhood variables were also expected to have an indirect and a direct effect on adaptation to work in adulthood. Not only were they predicted to have an indirect effect on adaptation to adult work through the impact they

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have on adolescent variables, but they were also expected to exert a direct effect because of the unique role development in middle childhood plays in preparing youth for adult work. Child and adolescent development does not necessarily follow a stable path. Consequently, adaptation at one developmental stage is not always predicted most strongly by behavior at the previous stage. For example, it is well-documented that adolescence is a time of great exploration and instability. Middle childhood adaptation, as a result, may often be less closely related to behavior in adolescence and more indicative of how individuals will behave when they enter the more stable adult work world (see Eccles, 1999, for further discussion of the importance of middle childhood). Middle childhood initiative, in particular, was predicted to play an important role. Erikson (1963) argued that, by middle childhood, children should have resolved their internal psychological conflict between "initiative" and "guilt" and be in the process, as noted earlier, of negotiating the tension within them between "industry" and "inferiority." The degree to which youngsters have effectively tackled the conflict between initiative and guilt by the time they reach middle childhood should then be tied to their likelihood of successfully negotiating later developmental issues, including the transition to work in adulthood. In addition, middle childhood is the time when most children are just starting their formal schooling. One of the primary tasks for children at this early stage in school is to learn to read. Research has shown that children who are delayed in learning to read are at an increased risk for later maladaptation in a variety of areas, one of which is work (see Slavin, 1994, for a review of research in this area).

Testing the Integrative Model: The Parent-Child Project To illustrate the integrative approach and to test the hypotheses outlined above, we highlight analyses of data from a sub-sample of 146 participants (76 males, 70 females) from the Minnesota Parent-Child Project, a 25-year longitudinal study of at-risk children and their families. The mothers of the original 267 participants were recruited while receiving prenatal care at public health clinics in Minneapolis, MN, in 1975. At the time of delivery, the mothers ranged in age from 12 to 34 years, with a mean age of 20. Fifty-eight percent were Caucasian, 16% were mixed race, 14% were African American, and the remaining 3% were Native American or Latino (see Egeland & Brunquell, 1979, for a more detailed description of the sample). In addition, because the study was originally designed to examine antecedents of child maltreatment, mothers were selected based on their risk for maltreating their children. Poverty was one of the primary risk factors used in the

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selection process. The child participants have been followed from before birth until age 26. The outcome variable examined here is drawn from the 23-year assessment. Exemplifying the integrative perspective on socialization to work, this study takes an organizational-developmental approach. Because, according to this perspective, development is both cumulative and coherent, effective negotiation of developmental tasks at one stage makes it more likely that persons will succeed in negotiating subsequent developmental tasks. Those who have difficulty negotiating earlier developmental tasks are not doomed to a life of insecurity, however. Successful negotiation of later developmental tasks can alter their internal working models and help put them back on a path to positive adaptation (Sroufe, 1979; Sroufe & Fieeson, 1986; Waters & Sroufe, 1983). MEASUREMENT In line with this theoretical perspective, assessments on the Parent-Child Project were designed to measure participants' success in negotiating salient tasks at each stage of development. Participants were assessed frequently (intervals between assessments ranged from between three and six months in infancy and early childhood to one and a half years in late adolescence and early adulthood) and by multiple informants, using a variety of interviews, questionnaires, and observational procedures. Participants' adaptation to work in adulthood was assessed when they were 23 years old. Based on a face-to-face interview, as well as participants' responses to questionnaire items, one of two trained Parent-Child Project researchers assigned a rating reflecting the participants' work ethic on a 5-point scale. Those receiving high scores on the scale: (1) demonstrated that work was important to their lives and their identities, and (2) did not engage in irresponsible behavior at work (see Appendix for the full rating scale). I The predictors of the work ethic were the level of initiative in middle childhood and adolescence, academic achievement in middle childhood and adolescence, and salient indicators of personal resources and the context (i.e. IQ and socio-economic status) (see Hyson, 2001, for a more complete description of these variables). Initiative in middle childhood was measured using an average of participants' standardized scores on sub-scales from the Devereux Elementary Behavior Rating Scales-Second Edition (DEBS-II) (Spivack & Swift, 1982), assigned by the participants' teachers in the second, third and sixth grades. Sub-scales chosen for the composite measured participants' level of organization, initiative in group discussions and activities, need for direction in completing work, and perseverance.

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The adolescent initiative measure addressed similar issues, but drew upon items from a semi-structured Parent-Child Project interview with the participants' high school teachers. Specifically, it consisted of a composite of teacher responses to a series of seven questions selected because of their conceptual relation to the construct of initiative (i.e. "persistence in completing work," "ability to work independently," "welcomes challenge with enthusiasm/not easily discouraged," "draws on own resources to overcome difficulty," "works on his or her own with some assistance from others," "refuses or avoids task," and "withdraws or gives up.") The measures of academic achievement used in this study included a composite of overall standard scores from administrations of the Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PLAT) (Dunn & Markwardt, 1970) when the participants were in the first, second, third and sixth grades and an average of the Passage Comprehension and Calculation standard scores from the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement (Woodcock & Mather, 1989, 1990), completed by participants at age 16. This study not only examined measures of initiative and academic achievement, but also included measures of personal resources and context. Intelligence was assessed when the participants were in third grade using an abbreviated form of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) (Wechsler, 1974). Participants' Full Scale IQ standard scores were used in the analyses reported here. SES was represented in this study by a composite based on the following variables: maternal employment, maternal education and household income when the participants were age 16. The composite was calculated by creating z-scores for each indicator and then taking the mean of the z-scores. Z-scores were then transformed into t-scores to produce a positively scaled distribution. RESULTS The findings provide support for the three hypotheses outlined earlier and indicate the importance of using an integrative model in examining socialization to work in adulthood. Intercorrelations were first examined among measures of initiative and academic achievement in middle childhood and adolescence, IQ, SES in adolescence, and the work ethic (see Table 1). The predictors were all interrelated at least moderately. The highest correlations, however, were predictably between measures of academic achievement in middle childhood and academic achievement in adolescence and between IQ and achievement in both developmental periods. As expected, based on the hypotheses discussed previously, initiative in middle childhood and adolescence and academic achievement in middle childhood and adolescence were all significantly associated with the young adult work ethic as well.

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Understanding Adaptation to Work in Adulthood T a b l e 1.

Intercorrelations A m o n g Predictors and W o r k Ethic at Age 23. 1

1. Work ethic (age 23) 2. Initiative (2nd, 3rd and 6th grades) 3. Academic achievement (lst, 2nd, 3rd and 6th grades) 4. WISC-R IQ (3rd grade) 5. Initiative (age 16) 6. Academic achievement (age 16) 7. SES (age 16)

2

3

4

5

6

7

1.00 0.35*** 1.00 0.24** 0.14 0.20* 0.26** 0.14

0.45*** 1.00 0.36*** 0.76*** 1.00 0.43*** 0.26** 0.21" 0.49*** 0.70*** 0.64***

1.00 0.29*** 1.00

0.31"** 0.29*** 0.36***

0.18"

0.35***

1.00

*** p <0.001, **p <0.01, *p <0.05.

To address h o w these indicators of initiative, academic achievement, personal resources and context are related across time to work ethic in young adulthood, longitudinal path analyses were conducted. The hypothetical model tested in these analyses has several important characteristics (see Fig. 1).

Middle childhood

Adolescence

Young adulthood

Initiative

academic achievement

Fig. 1. Hypothesized Model of Relations Between Initiative and Academic Achievement Across Developmental Phases and Work Ethic in Young Adulthood.

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First, it is based on the assumption that initiative and academic achievement in different phases of the life course will have unique effects on work ethic in adulthood. The participants' levels of initiative or academic achievement at each developmental stage are predicted to influence the same phenomena at the next developmental stage. In addition to the indirect effects they exert through this cumulative process, initiative and academic achievement from middle childhood are also hypothesized, as discussed earlier, to have direct effects on work ethic in adulthood. Finally, measures of IQ and of SES in adolescence are included in each of the equations to examine the effects of personal resources and context on the outcome variables (i.e. initiative in adolescence, academic achievement in adolescence, and work ethic in young adulthood). Due to missing data from different assessments during the course of the Parent-Child Project, the sample size for these analyses was limited to 141, Cases without a young adult work ethic rating were first eliminated. Given the centrality of this outcome to the questions being addressed, it did not seem appropriate to impute any of its values. Next, cases with missing data on more than two of the predictor variables were also eliminated. For cases with missing data on two or fewer of the predictor variables, values were imputed for the missing data points using the series mean substitution method. The results of these analyses are depicted in Fig. 2. Middle childhood

Adolescence

Young adulthood

0.38*** inifiativc

rI

initiative

--t

'Q

0.27**

I academic achievement

~ 0.43***

work ethic R2=0.15**

academic achievement

***p < 0.001, **p < 0.01, *p < 0.05 Fig. 2. Relations Between Initiative and Academic Achievement Across Developmental Phases and Work Ethic in Young Adulthood.

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Directional path coefficients in this figure reflect the Beta weights obtained from the regression analyses. Only significant paths among measures of initiative, academic achievement, IQ, SES and work ethic are shown. The multiple R 2 for the regression model predicting the work ethic is indicated on the figure directly below the dependent variable. The findings provided partial support for the hypothesized model. Both initiative and academic achievement show significant stability across developmental phases, but neither initiative nor academic achievement in adolescence is related to the adult work ethic. Examination of the lagged effects in the model shows that initiative in middle childhood predicts academic achievement in adolescence, but academic achievement in middle childhood does not demonstrate a similar association with initiative in adolescence. Surprisingly, measures of personal resources and context were not found to be strong direct or indirect predictors of adult work ethic. IQ was found to be significantly related to academic achievement in adolescence (Beta= 0.22, p < 0.05), but not to adult work ethic. SES was not associated with any of the adolescent or adult outcomes. Other research by the first author, however, has demonstrated that both of these variables may be better predictors of adult career maturity than of adult work ethic (Hyson, 2001). As we hypothesized, these indices of personal resources and context may affect the role models and educational and training opportunities available to individuals as they mature. While these models and opportunities likely affect work ethic as we define it here in some way, they may be more likely to affect the way adults think about and explore potential careers. Most importantly, however, only middle childhood initiative was found in this study to significantly predict (Beta = 0.27, p < 0.01) the work ethic in adulthood. While these results appear inconsistent with prior research indicating the importance of academic achievement in predicting successful adaptation to the work world, recent work has suggested that adolescent roles and tasks, including academic achievement, may take on a different meaning for children of differing socioeconomic status (Burton, Obeidallah & Allison, 1996). Participants in the study described here were recruited at birth because their families were living in poverty. Now that they have reached young adulthood, many of them are still poor, and the majority of them are seeking out entry-level, generally low-skill jobs. In adapting to these types of jobs, academic achievement, especially as it is measured on standardized achievement tests, makes little difference. As a result, it is initiative, and not academic achievement, that more strongly predicts positive motivational and behavioral adaptation to work for the young people in this sample. Employers in these settings seek individuals who can function independently and show perseverance, not necessarily those who have been successful academically.

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Furthermore, as previously mentioned, it should not be surprising that middle childhood initiative in particular is important for the work ethic in young adulthood, since the most salient development issue of the early-middle childhood period is considered to be the tension between "initiative" and "guilt" (Erikson, 1963). It is important to note that, as shown by Zero-order Pearson correlations (see Table 1), initiative in adolescence is indeed correlated significantly (R = 0.20, p < 0.05) with the young adult work ethic. In the longitudinal path analysis predicting work ethic described above, however, when both adolescent and middle childhood initiative were entered simultaneously, only middle childhood initiative was found to account for unique variance in the young adult outcome. Thus, while both middle childhood and adolescent measures are correlated with the young adult work ethic, adolescent initiative does not explain any additional variance in the work ethic over and above that accounted for by the middle childhood measure. It is important to acknowledge, however, that differences in the skills tapped by the middle childhood and adolescent measures may also contribute to this pattern of findings. The DEBS-II scales tap general skills, pertaining to organization, initiative, self-direction, and persistence, that are reflected in young adult employment capacity and work-related attitudes, such as the work ethic. The adolescent measure of initiative, based on teacher ratings of adolescent behavior regarding school tasks, may be more education specific. Furthermore, the middle childhood measure of initiative taps teacher ratings in the second, third, and sixth grades. As a result, it may be more reliable than the adolescent initiative measure which is based on teacher ratings at age 16 only. CONCLUSION From the perspective of social and educational policy, the findings reinforce the importance of individual initiative and of context in preparing youth for the transition from school to work. Some young people who are low achievers may be capable of making a successful transition to work if they are taught "soft skills," such as how to work independently and how to persist at difficult tasks (see Hyson, 1999; Wilson, 1996, for further discussion of the importance of "soft skills"). Work preparation programs in schools should recognize the importance of these variables and consequently should be designed to address a variety of student needs. Moreover, from a practical standpoint, these results offer further support for the current movement to begin at an earlier age to prepare students for socialization

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to work in adulthood. Current special education law (Public Law 105-17) mandates that a transition component be included in the Individual Education Plan of all students with disabilities by age 14. The results outlined here suggest that the process for socio-economically disadvantaged children in general may need to begin as early as in first grade. From the very beginning of school students should be learning the functional, social and academic skills necessary for success in the workplace. While they may still be many years away from their first "real job," what children learn at this age can form the foundation for a smooth transition later in life. The findings from this study extend work conducted in a general community sample, the Youth Development Study (see Mortimer & Finch, 1996), with an at-risk poverty sample. The YDS indicates that important work-relevant values and self-concepts are formed through early work experiences in adolescence (Mortimer et al., 1996; Grabowski et al., 2001), and that the advantages of stable and moderate investment in work apply to youth at all socio-economic levels (Mortimer, forthcoming). While some might view the use of a poverty sample in the Parent-Child Project as a limitation because of the constraints it may place on generalization of findings to a broader population, we would argue that the sample studied here is representative of exactly the population we most need to study, not only because impoverished youth are understudied in this field, but also because they are most in need of innovative intervention to help them make a more successful entry into the workforce. As scholars such as William Julius Wilson (1987, 1996) have noted, the poor are more likely to be unemployed or employed at a wage insufficient to allow them to support a family, increasing the likelihood that they will remain in poverty. This work will hopefully offer some insights as to how to break this cycle and to help all youth - including poor youth - make a successful transition to work in young adulthood. Finally, it should be acknowledged that young adulthood, especially in an at-risk sample such as the one examined here, is still a period of transition in the work lives of individuals. While it is important to examine predictors of success in negotiating this transitional period, the predictors found to be most important in predicting success in work at this stage may not be the same predictors that are important in predicting success in work at a later stage in life. Future studies should investigate pathways to success in the transition to work not just in young adulthood, but in adulthood as well. Are the same variables important in predicting socialization to work in young adulthood and in subsequent adulthood? Does a successful negotiation of the transition to work in young adulthood predict socialization to work in adulthood?

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Future studies will also need to consider the effect of societal change on the process of socialization to work. Not only are many young adults unprepared for the changing labor market, but the market also offers them less security. Gone are the days when adults started in a business right out of high school and worked in that same business until retirement. Most adults in today's labor market change jobs multiple times in the course of their adult work life. In addition, it is more common in this era for workers to either work and go to school simultaneously or to alternate between periods of time in work and periods in school. This trend is related to the declining economic position of workers who lack college credentials. Because of this more flexible and often unstable work pattern, adults must possess a wide variety of skills, including general work-related skills, so that they can adapt to the range of different job settings they will likely encounter over the course of their careers (Mortimer,

2000). Given the many and varied economic and technological changes our society is currently experiencing, this is a particularly important time to be studying the process of socialization to work in adulthood. Moreover, due to recent welfare reforms, an increasing number of new and inexperienced young workers are seeking employment. With both work and workers changing so rapidly, it is imperative that we understand how individuals make an effective transition to adult work. To fully understand this transition, however, we believe that it is essential to employ a contextual developmental model. We need to consider both contemporaneous factors in individuals' lives and important aspects of individuals' prior developmental histories. It is only through a careful examination of the interaction among these factors across developmental phases that we can truly begin to comprehend the process of socialization to work in adulthood. For this model to be adequately tested, continued prospective, longitudinal research is essential. While the costs of such long-term study can be great, it provides our best opportunity for understanding how individuals are socialized to succeed in this important domain of adult functioning.

NOTE 1. To assess interrater reliability, 10% of the cases were scored by both coders. The resulting intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.74. Discrepancies were discussed and a consensus reached. Inconsistencies or ambiguities in the coding scheme were corrected and relevant cases re-scored. For the 143 cases on which data were available, the mean score was 3.49 (Standard Deviation = 1.05). Although the scores were moderately positively skewed, all scale points were represented in the sample.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Parent-Child Project, directed by Byron Egeland, L. Alan Sroufe and W. Andrew Collins, is supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Mental Health (R01MH40864). Jeylan Mortimer deserves special acknowledgment for thoroughly reviewing earlier drafts of this chapter. I would also like to thank Byron Egeland for providing feedback concerning the planning of analyses and the reporting of results described here. Glenn Roisman, Michelle Englund, and Jessica Siebenbruner, graduate students and staff on the Parent-Child Project, should also be acknowledged for the considerable time and effort they contributed to the designing and coding of the outcome measures used in the analyses presented above.

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Spivack, G., & Swift, M. (1982). Devereux elementary school behavior rating scales. Devon, PA: The Devereux Foundation. Sroufe, L. A. (1979). The coherence of individual development: Early care, attachment, and subsequent developmental issues. American Psychologist, 34, 834-841. Sroufe, L. A., & Fleeson, J. (1986). The coherence of family relationships. In: R. A. Hinde & J. Stevenson-Hinde (Eds), Relationships Within Families. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Stern, D., & Eichorn, D. (1989). Overview. In: D. Stern & D. Eichorn (Eds), Adolescence and Work: Influences of Social Structure, Labor Markets, and Culture (pp. 3-13). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Szapocznik, J., & Coatsworth, J. D.(1999). An ecodevelopmental framework for organizing the influences on drug abuse: A developmental model of risk and protection. In: M. Glantz & C. R. Hartel (Eds), Drug Abuse: Origins and Interventions. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association. Tiggemann, M., & Winefield, A. H. (1989). Predictors of employment, unemployment and further study among school-leavers. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 62, 213-221. Vondracek, F., Lerner, R. M., & Schulenberg, J. E. (1986). Career development: A life-span developmental approach. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Waters, E., & Sroufe, L. A. (1983). Social competence as a developmental construct. Developmental Review, 3, 79-97. Wechsler, D. (1974). Wechsler intelligence scale for children - revised. New York, NY: Psychological Corporation. Wilson, W. J. (1987). The truly disadvantaged: The inner city, the underclass, and public policy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Wilson, W. J. (1996). When work disappears: The world of the new urban poor. New York: Vintage Books. Woodcock, R. W., & Mather, N. (1989, 1990). WJ-R tests of achievement: Examiner's manual. In R. W. Woodcock & M. B. Johnson, Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery Revised. Allen, TX: DLM Teaching Resources.

APPENDIX Minnesota Parent-Child Project 23-Year Work Ethic Scale

This scale is designed to assess participants' work ethic. In m a k i n g this rating, coders should consider two primary sets of issues: (1) the degree to which the participant indicates that work is an important part of his or her life and identity/sense o f self, and (2) the level o f irresponsible behavior the individual reports h a v i n g e n g a g e d in at w o r k in the past year. Participants' current work status is o n l y one of m a n y criteria coders should consider in m a k i n g their j u d g m e n t s . Participants who are currently u n e m p l o y e d m a y receive any score except a five on this scale, d e p e n d i n g on the importance

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they appear to place on finding a job and on working in general and upon the level of irresponsible behavior they have demonstrated in whatever work experiences they may have had in the past year. In judging the level of importance (e.g. work is very important, important, somewhat important or of little or no importance) participants place on working, coders should consider participants' responses to direct questions concerning the importance of work in their life. For those who are unemployed at the time of the assessment, coders should take into account whether they are currently looking for a job, and if so, how they are going about looking. In addition, raters should examine responses to questions about the things participants look for in a full-time job to see if these responses show that work is an important part of the participant's life and identity (e.g. participant cites some "intrinsic" criteria, such as having a job related to his or her career goals, or having a job that makes him or her happy). In assessing participants' level of irresponsible behavior, coders should examine the frequency with which participants have engaged in a variety of irresponsible activities at work in the past year. Low frequency behaviors will be defined in this context as behaviors in which participants report engaging once a year. Moderate frequency behaviors are reported to have occurred 2-4 times per year. High frequency behaviors should be behaviors that the participant engages in five or more times per year. Among behaviors coders should consider are: tardiness/truancy, discipline for breaking rules, not doing the best job one could, staying away from work for no good reason when expected to be there, messing up on purpose to get back at other people at work, and alcohol and drug use on the job. An individual may be "bumped" up the scale if they have worked full-time since they were 21 years old. An individual may also be bumped down the scale if they haven't worked at all in the last two years, or have frequently changed from job to job. 5. Participant demonstrates an outstanding work ethic. Individual is currently employed and indicates that working is a very important part of his or her life and identity. There is evidence of at most one or two isolated instances of any irresponsible behavior at work in the past year. ANCHOR CASE FOR 5: Participant is currently employed and says that work is both a very important part of his current life and of his identity. He also reports that he plans to stay in his current job "for awhile." While he admits having been late for work once in the past year, he claims that this was because his car broke down and says that he experienced no

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repercussions at work as a result of being late. He has also only once not done the best he could at work. In addition, he cites many intrinsic characteristics which are important to him in potential jobs. 4. Participant demonstrates a good work ethic. (a) Individual is currently unemployed, but indicates that working is a very important part of his or her life and identity. There may also be evidence of a low frequency of irresponsible behavior at work in the past year, but this is not necessary for an individual with this profile to receive a 4. (b) Individual is currently employed and indicates that working is at least an important part of his or her life and identity. There is also evidence of a low frequency of irresponsible behavior at work in the past year. 3. Participant demonstrates a moderate work ethic. (a) Individual is currently unemployed, but indicates that working is an important part of his or her life and identity. There may also be evidence of irresponsible behavior at work in the past year, but this is not necessary for an individual with this profile to receive a 3. (b) Individual is currently employed and indicates that working is at least an important part of his or her life and identity. There is also evidence of a moderate frequency of irresponsible behavior at work in the past year. (c) Individual is currently employed and indicates that working is a somewhat important part of his or her life and identity. There is also evidence of a low frequency of irresponsible behavior at work in the past year.

ANCHOR CASE FOR 3: Participant is currently employed and says that while work is very important to him to pay the bills, it is only fairly important in comparison to other things in his life and not too important in affecting who he is. Whether or not he stays in his current job will depend on pay. If he finds something better, he will move on. He reports having been late to work a couple of times, upsetting his boss, but receiving no other consequences. In addition, he stayed away from work for no good reason when he was expected to be there once in the past year. The important things he looks for in a job are also primarily extrinsic characteristics. 2. Participant demonstrates a minimal work ethic. (a) Individual is currently unemployed and indicates that working is a somewhat important part of his or her life and identity. There may also be evidence of irresponsible behavior at work in the past year, but this is not necessary for an individual with this profile to receive a two.

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(b) Individual is currently employed, but indicates that working is a somewhat important part of his or her life and identity. There is also evidence of a moderate frequency of irresponsible behavior at work in the past year. 1. Participant demonstrates little or no work ethic. (a) Individual is currently unemployed and indicates that working is of little or no importance to his or her life and identity. There may also be evidence of irresponsible behavior at work in the past year, but this is not necessary for an individual with this profile to receive a 1. (b) Individual is currently employed, but indicates that working is of little or no importance to his or her life and identity. There is also evidence of a high frequency of irresponsible behavior at work in the past year.

ANCHOR CASE FOR 1: Participant is currently unemployed and says that work is not too important right now for him either in relation to other things or in making him who he is as a person. He is not currently looking for work and cites mainly extrinsic qualities he looks for in a potential job. He also reports having been late for work five or more times in the past year.