The Political Implications of Psychosocial Work Redesign: A Model of the Psychosocial Class Structure

Abstract

The goal of this article is to further illuminate the poorly understood distribution of psychosocial well-being at the national population level (the distribution of conventional economic well-being is, of course, well understood). After reviewing psychosocial phenomena that cannot be predicted by the “conventional” class structure, the author introduces a new definition of production output value (New Value), more closely related to psychosocial well-being. A psychosocial class structure model is presented based on nine occupational subgroups in four status levels, representing both conventional and New Value-based status differences. An empirical analysis of 38 occupations in the U.S. work force (U.S. Quality of Employment Surveys 1969, 1972, 1977) uses psychosocial job dimensions of decision latitude, psychological demands, physical exertion, and social support. The author reviews job redesign strategies for three New Value “impoverished” groups with routinized, bureaucratized, and commercialized jobs, and the conditions for economic stability and political participation related to the psychosocial class structure model. Conflicts arising between conventional and New Value-based policies are discussed.