Social attitudes in the organisational society : Company structures and the just distributive order of society

Abstract

"This paper examines the significance of income and career chances in the firm for attitudes regarding social justice. On the basis of organisational theory arguments from the more recent sociological class theories and the findings from labour-market and organisational research, the autonomous role of employment organisations for the allocation of position in the social structure of a society is first shown. This is justified by the fact that income and career chances in the firm are to be understood as collective goods, with the consequence that mere membership of a firm opens up or closes income and career chances. Based on the assumption that attitude formation is based on the 'logic of the situation' and is imparted via learning-theory mechanisms, the paper then builds on this to discuss the significance of work organisations for the formation of general social attitudes. The assumption involves the structural characteristics of an organisation being important not only for work-related and organisation-related attitudes but also for political and social attitudes. For a first empirical examination the cross-sectional study of the National Organization Study (NOS) is used, for which data was collected in the USA in 1991 and which is linked with data from the ISSP from 1992. On the basis of structural equation models, the relationship between the company distribution structure and attitudes of social justice is examined. The observed effects largely confirm the hypotheses derived from theory. Thus employees with low income and mobility chances in the firm and whose firms recruit their staff internally are more in favour of state regulation of social inequalities. In contrast, managers and employees in profit-orientated firms who also have good career chances in the firm are in favour of an order of social distribution that stands out due to high social inequalities. The results indicate that the career and income chances which are imparted via work organisations can be decisive for the formation of employees' general, social attitudes. However, longitudinal studies are needed in order to obtain more precise information about the causal direction of this relationship." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Liebig, S. & Krause, A. (2006): Soziale Einstellungen in der Organisationsgesellschaft. Betriebliche Strukturen und die gerechte Verteilungsordnung der Gesellschaft. In: Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung, Vol. 39, No. 2, p. 255-276.