The Effect of the Social Setting on Industrial Incentives

Abstract

Recent psychological literature has tended to emphasise the social aspect of psychology. It is particularly noticeable in theories of personality that the cultural determination of the individual is being given a more important position; a change brought about by the development of sociology and social anthropology. It is a change which affects our outlook in many fields of applied psychology, in education, in abnormal psychology, in industry. It therefore seems justified to review from this angle the problem of industrial incentives. The subject has already received a good deal of attention, but in very little of the material has the effect of the cultural milieu been specifically pointed out. Before we begin it will be wise to clarify the subject under discussion by making a distinction between motivation and incentive, which are often taken to be synonymous terms. There is, however, a valid distinction between the two. While motive refers to the drive within the individual which impels him to a certain course of action, incentive can best be taken to mean that situation external to the individual which is stimulating to him. It, therefore, includes those industrial situations, planned or unplanned, which stimulate the worker, but does not include factors within the personality make-up of the individual which may also be stimulating forces. The two are, of course, closely interrelated, and an incentive can operate only through its appeal to the drives of the individual. In dealing with the subject it has been thought best to divide the matter into two parts. In the first the general theory will be presented and its operation illustrated by short studies of four different societies. These have been chosen not only because they are widely different in time, place or organisation, but also because they represent key points in the trends of industrial development. The Maoris and Trobriand Islanders have been chosen as exemplifying primitive societies which show us industrial organisation in its simplest form; Medieval Europe because it is the starting point from which our present capitalistic system has grown; Middletown as an example of modern American industry which shows us the extreme development of capitalism and individualistic enterprise; and Soviet Russia as an example of an attempt at a planned society. The second part will attempt a more detailed analysis of the theory as it applies to the different incentives which operate in industry, and will attempt to show how their application and efficacy depend upon the social values which obtain in the environment in which they are found. It is hoped by this synthesis of two approaches to offset the absence of a thorough historical survey of incentives as they have operated in different societies and at the same time to see the subject in a unified way which would have been impossible with the analytical approach alone. By these means the conclusions mas have a greater validity than otherwise would have been possible in so short a study.