To the Editor:
Human behavior and motivations are varied and complex. To say that all workers want “meaningful work” denies this reality. Some workers only want extrinsic rewards (money, recognition), while others are intrinsically motivated (the knowledge that they did their personal best). Some workers meet their personal needs outside of work and just use work to pay the bills. Others hide from family obligations at work. The Gallup survey that Barry Schwartz cites notes only worker dissatisfaction, not its causes. Who is to say that all the respondents were dissatisfied for the same reason?
JOHN MIRAGLIA
Old Bridge, N.J.
