Behavior and Attitudes of Industrial Workers under Socio-economic and Cultural Changes (Oran)

Starting from the importance of respecting commitment to organizational behavior, workers must comply with the rules, laws, and requirements of the institution, as these constitute the regulatory framework through which informal groups can also achieve, even partially, their defined objectives. This view is shared by the workers themselves. Likewise, for the institution to manage its workforce in a scientific manner and establish behavioral rules that can be adhered to, it must understand workers and identify the factors that influence their behavior, thereby achieving effectiveness through the efforts they exert.

However, as previously noted, most Algerian sociological researchers have not given sufficient importance to this element (behavior) in their studies. Instead, emphasis has been placed on workers’ professional and social conditions, working conditions, wages, incentives, labor conflicts and disputes, authority, and similar factors, while overlooking the fact that these elements collectively shape workers’ behaviors and practices and encourage them to act in specific ways.

This observation does not imply blaming studies concerned with industrial workers. It is possible that the study of behavior has been regarded as a purely psychological field. Nevertheless, such a view cannot be upheld, as most social and human sciences address this issue, including psychology, anthropology, ethics, legal and political sciences, and economics. Above all, sociology, across its various branches and specializations, is deeply concerned with the study of both individual and collective behavior.

Thus, despite the significant attention devoted to studying the working individual—considered the fundamental unit upon which any institution is built—and to examining their representations of social phenomena, cultural socialization, and acculturation processes, this research focuses on an approach developed in American studies, namely the human relations approach led by Elton Mayo. Accordingly, what is the reality of workers’ behaviors and practices, and what are their representations of their job positions in light of the socio-economic and cultural transformations of society?