Working in East German socialism in 1980 and in capitalism 15 years later:A trend analysis of a transitional economy's working conditions

Many studies document the changes that have taken place in the new German s tates, the former German Democratic Republic (GDR), since the end of social ism. Most research looks at the changes that took place after the unificati on of East and West Germany, but little is known about the differences betw een the present, somewhat settled situation in the new German states and th e stable situation in the GDR before the system change. The goal of this study was to enlarge our knowledge on these differences. W ith a trend analysis, aspects of work in the GDR in 1980 (n = 337) were com pared with the new German states in 1995 (n = 168). Results showed that the re was more job control and complexity, more activity in work improvement a nd batter work organisation in the new German states than in the GDR. There was no difference in stress variables and social support by colleagues bet ween both groups. Relationships with supervisors and appreciation for sugge stions for work improvement were better in the GDR than after the introduct ion of capitalism.