Occupational devotion, as defined by Robert A. Stebbins, is a strong and positive attachment to a form of self-enhancing work, where the sense of achievement is high and the core activity, or set of tasks, is endowed with such intense appeal that the line between work and leisure is virtually erased. This volume examines conditions that attract people to their work in this profound way, and the many exceptional values and intrinsic rewards they realie there. Stebbins frames occupational devotion in four broad social contextshistory, religion, work, and leisurethen considers the further subdivisions of gender, social class, and social character.

Preface Acknowledgements 1. Occupational Devotion and Occupational Devotees 2. Protestant Ethic, Work Ethic, and Occupational Devotion 3. Gender, Family, Social Class, and Social Character 4. Serious Leisure 5. Erasing the Line between Work and Leisure 6. Work, Leisure, and Money in Everyday Life 7. Common Ground in Separate Worlds: Some Implications References Index