Vol.18 No.1 AJPSSI AFRICAN JOURNAL FOR THE PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY OF SOCIAL ISSUES pg. 62 WORK AND THE NATURE OF WORK IN NIGERIA PETER O. KALEJAIYE Department of Sociology/Psychology, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Nigeria. petkal2000@yahoo.com, +2348052334309 ABSTRACT Although, work means different thing in literature, but it is a common term used by everyone who exert efforts in order to earn something in return, except that the variation in the nature of work lead to different compensation package. Workers have different orientation to work. This is largely due to their attitude to work and management philosophy. Hence, this paper through content analysis of literature, examined the nature of work and how work determines the lifestyles and survival of Nigerian workers in Nigeria. The paper concluded among other things that the nature of one’s work determines his/her way of life and status in the society. Keywords: Work, Nature of work, Living, Survival, Nigeria INTRODUCTION One of the underlying factor of the past, present and future development of any society is work. Development of whatever kind is the product of work and is determined by work (Doering, 1990). Work with pay is the antidote to poverty; however, the lifestyles and survival of workers in any society is based on the nature of work. Hence, this study will address the following questions: What is the attitude of Nigerian workers toward their work? How does their work influence their life styles? What surviving strategies do they adopt to supplement the pay they receive from their actual work? In achieving these objectives, section one of this paper will address the attitude of Nigerian workers toward their work, section two will focus on how their work influence their lifestyles, section three will identify the surviving strategies that Nigerian workers adopt to supplement the pay they receive from their actual work, while section four will examine the relationships that exist between work and workers’ living, and survival. Conclusion and recommendations will be drawn afterwards. However, it is not the prerogative of this paper to enumerate kinds of work. That in it would present an impossible task since it would involve the enumeration of all forms of human activity. Conceptual Clarification What is work? The study of work has a long history. In the 18 th century, traditional work rhythms and practices of pre-industrial society gave way to the division of labour and the discipline of the factory system of work organization. At the turn of the 20 th century, the essence of the scientific management movement was the opportunity it afforded for increasing the control and coordination of workers’ effort. In the 1960s, concern about declining productivity, increasing industrial disputes and worker dissatisfaction led to new work structures that emphasized worker autonomy and participation, and a variety of functional tasks through ‘job enrichment’. Technological change and the process of globalization produced ‘new’ systems of work organization in the 1990s. The managerial mantra of the 1990s was flexibility, and studies of organizational innovations such as flexible specialization, cellular production, lean production, team-based horizontal work structures, re-engineering and virtual organizations are now well