Why Work Matters: A Personal, Contextual, and Forward-Looking Exploration of Psychology of Working

This article explores the question of why work matters via a biographical, contextual, and forward-looking examination of the psychology of working. The development of the psychology of working as a perspective, theory, and movement is described via a biographical exploration of the author’s life history in conjunction with critical analyses of the existing theory, and the promise of an inclusive theory encompassing everyone who works and wants and/or needs to work. The article identifies the differential nature of why work matters in relation to core tenets of the psychology of working, highlighting the prevailing role of macro-level barriers such as economic constraints and marginalization in determining access to decent and dignified work. As a means of advancing considerations of why work matters, the article concludes with ideas about the next steps in psychology of working theory (PWT) and recommendations about the current and future state of vocational psychology within counseling psychology.