Working Values and Intercultural Interaction among Workers

Working values, in the sense of organisation of beliefs and behaviours regarding what is preferable, right, good and opportune to chose in one’s life, represent an important aspect of the system of needs, wishes and goals which characterizes the attitude of Italians and immigrants towards work. In particular, we consider significant differences and similarities regarding working values as a fundamental point in the processes of separation and social integration between Italian and immigrant workers in working field. The current study was designed to investigate the differences in values and the perception of these differences, at an interpersonal and inter-group level, within 15 manufacturing realities with a high presence of immigrant workers (>=20%). The participants were 180 workers. Their ages ranged from 28 to 55 years. 110 of the participants were Italians and 90 were immigrants. These data, related to the perception of social distance and to the analysis of post-immigration society imagined by people involved, point out that shared working values can have an important role in mediation and organization of intercultural meanings.