The meaning of work for Poles is analyzed here from 2 perspectives: macrosocial and individual. From the macrosocial perspective work attitudes are explained by 3 factors: traditional Polish Catholicism, cultural patterns (influence of noble class tradition), and experience of "real socialism." From an individual perspective some psychological and demographic predictors of an autonomous (intrinsic) work attitude are empirically tested. The autonomous attitude towards work is understood here as treating work as an important autonomous value versus only an instrumental means for earning money. The data was collected by means of standardized interviews run on a representative random sample of adult working Poles, N = 1340.