The Dissatisfied Worker
REVIEWS :Author: Y. E. Fisher and Joseph Hanna. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1931.
This book, contrary to the suggestion which might be conveyed by the title, is not concerned with the group phenomena of labor unrest, such as wage disputes and strikes. It treats entirely of the emotional maladjustment of the individual worker rather than of groups of workers, and since it is clinical in its viewpoint there is decidedly more emphasis upon the welfare of the individual than upon the efficient performance of the job. The authors claim newness only in the emphasis of their thesis, which is that much of the emotional maladjustment in industry is a result, not of the working situation, but of the nonadjustive emotional characteristics of the individual. It is held that atypical behavior in the job environment is often only symptomatic of a more general condition which it reflects, and is not caused by inherent characteristics of the work itself, nor by lack of mental ability, physical deficiency, or technical unfitness. Adjustment to the job “always implies a fairly adequate emotional adjustment of the individual to all the various major aspects of social life?to superiors, to inferiors, to competitive situations, to family situations, to sexual problems, etc.” Of course other workers applying psychology and psychiatry in industry have stressed this point, though possibly treating it in less detail, for instance, V. V. Anderson in “Psychiatry In Industry” indicates one group of work failures as “those problem employees whose main difficulties lie in their own make-up and the disorder of their own personality, rather than that they are in the wrong job.”
The style of presentation of this work is simple, untechnical and free from controversy, since it is written primarily to be understood by those engaged in industrial management who may be unversed in the fundamentals or terminology of psychology. Its scope is not broad since its stated purpose is merely to describe the nature of emotional maladjustment and to call attention to the importance of its effect upon the vocational performance of the individual. There is an early elementary chapter on “The Inherent Nature of the Human Individual,” in which mental phenomena are assigned to one of three classes, the cognitive or intellective functions, the tendencies, impulses or drives, and the emotions and feelings. The process of conditioning of emotions is here explained, and the importance of impulses and emotions in behavior is stressed. The chapter folloAving is entitled “The Origin and Nature of Emotional Maladjustments,” and here emotional maladjustments are found to be classified into three general groups. First there are those resulting from emotional immaturity, in which the early emotional reactions have not been unconditioned and reconditioned, and the emotions have not been properly organized; second, those disorders to be seen in the exaggeration or overexpression of one or more drive-emotions; third, those resulting from markedly unnatural or abnormal expressions of drive-emotions. Individual chapters” are devoted to maldevelopment involving self-assertion, fear, and the sexual disposition.
Of very practical value is a classification of behavior symptoms into those denoting slight and those indicating serious maladjustment, presented in order that interested observers might be more easily able to recognize the “workers so affected. The first group of symptoms includes petty jealousies; mild forms of self pity; lack of cheerful co-operation; hard-boiled tactics and labor agitation; fault finding; feelings of being neglected; desire for undue attention; foolhardy conduct or feigned bravery. Among the more grave symptoms are: frequent changes of jobs; extreme reticence and withdrawal; tired feelings; spasmodic and irregular application; day dreaming; deficiency in range and power of attention; extreme irritability; nervous indigestion, nausea; abnormal fears, fear neuroses; feelings of being spied upon, watched or followed; hearing voices, etc. Finally a sample industrial mental hygiene program is offered, in which the part a tactful and understanding foreman can play in relieving some of the less serious individual difficulties is well stated. The more serious cases, of course, are to be referred to the plant psychologist or psychiatrist.
Case histories, collected from the experience of the authors, are included to illustrate the various types of maladjustment. In these the nature and probable cause of the abnormality are stated, together with the effect upon the vocational adjustment of the subject and the outcome of the case. However, the technique of the analysis by means of which the conclusions were reached is not treated, which subject matter would have been of the greatest interest to more advanced readers.
While this book presents little new to those experienced in the field of mental hygiene it may help them to organize better some of the concepts with which they are familiar. Unquestionably it should serve well in the capacity for which it was primarily intended, to promote better understanding of emotionally maladjusted workers on the part of industrial management. In addition, in view of its psychological authorship, it may help to further dispell the misconception, amazingly enough still prevalent in certain quarters, that the industrial psychologist is interested only in aptitudes and abilities and unconcerned with the other factors involved in the working situation. Kinsley R. smith
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