Psychology of working theory: Decent work for decent lives

The chapter parses the PWT framework and reviews recent quantitative and qualitative studies derived from the work of Blustein and colleagues. We delineate opportunities for further research aligned with PWT, including possibilities for job crafting to increase access to decent work among vulnerable workers and in relation to developments in the psychology of sustainability and sustainable development (Di Fabio & Rosen, 2018). We review research related to the concept of minimum wage introduced by the ILO and expanded upon by Carr (Carr et al., 2011; Carr, 2021) as one policy option that connects econometric and subjective approaches to poverty and may help to ensure quality of life beyond basic economic survival. The chapter concludes with a reflection on the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on career development and the post-pandemic world of work. By integrating PWT with literature on decent work, precariousness, Capability Theory, and Covid-19, the chapter offers a backdrop for the rest of the book through recommendations for policy, practice, and research.