THE FEELING OF LOW QUALITY OF LIFE AND INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS: ARE THEY LINKED? Available to Purchase

The feeling of a low quality of life is not an inevitable aftermath of industrial progress, but the two phenomena may become linked in conditions of heavy competitive behaviour stemming from strong achievement orientation. Study of the relationship between quality of life and objective vocational success, and achievement motivation and spiritual values, conducted among new immigrants from the USSR, Romania and South America, shows that quality of life feeling is more determined by the value orientation of the individual's reference group than by personal objective achievements and failures. The general progress of industrial society is feasible without the stimulating effect of competitive achievement motivation, if spiritual community values are fostering hard labour. Industrial progress should be considered not as an end in itself, but as a means to live a life of high quality, both as an objective situation and as a feeling of satisfaction.