Work Experience and Work Involvement

This panel study examines the interrelations of work experience and psychological involvement in work among male college graduates over a 10-year period. The data analysis provides substantial support for the “occupational socialization hypothesis”—that work experience and, particularly, work autonomy, stimulate work involvement over time. There was also evidence for the “occupational selection hypothesis”—that high work involvement, prior to labor force entry, induces work values which promote stability m the early career and facilitates the attainment of income and work autonomy.