How working is defined: structure and stability
通过对比利时、德国、日本、美国等国家劳动者的调查，研究发现人们对工作的定义主要围绕负担/控制、责任/交换和社会贡献三个维度，且这些定义结构在时间上相当稳定。
Multidimensional scaling of statements that identify when individuals consider an activity in which one is engaged to be working was conducted on representative samples of the employed labor forces in Belgium, Germany, Japan and the U.S.A. at the time period 1982–1983 and again at the time period 1989–1992. Representative samples of the employed labor forces in East Germany, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Beijing, China were studied at the time period 1991–1992 and were subjected to the same MDS analysis. The results provide empirical support that one hypothesized dimension underlying the way in which people define working ranges from burden/control to social contribution. Individuals who define working in burden/control and/or constraint terms emphasize costs to the individual. Individuals who define working largely in responsibility and exchange terms emphasize reciprocal exchange relations between the individual and the organization/society. Individuals who define working largely in social contribution terms emphasize the social benefits of working. The work definition structures in each of the four countries with replication samples are quite stable over time. In total, the work definition responses of over 18,000 individuals were studied.