The Life Insurance Man: a Sociological Analysis of the Occupation
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1958 The Life Insurance Man: a Sociological Analysis of the Occupation. Miller Lee Taylor Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Taylor, Miller Lee, "The Life Insurance Man: a Sociological Analysis of the Occupation." (1958). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 473. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/473 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE LIFE INSURANCE MAN: A SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE OCCUPATION A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical C olle ge in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Sociology V/ X - vv by M.N Lee Taylor B.A., San Jose State College, 1952 M.A., Louisiana State University, 1956 May, 1958 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENT The author wishes to express deep appreciation to Dr. Roland J. Pellegrin for his friendly and professional guidance which has contributed much to this study. More over, the author is indebted to Dr. Pellegrin for his general interest in the sociology of occupations. Special appreciation is extended to Dr. Rudolf Heberle for his contribution to the author’s understanding of social theory and his recognition of the importance of theoretically oriented research designs. A debt is recog nized to Dr. Paul H. Price for discussions with him. con cerning the relations between theoretical and empirical sociology. Doctors Vernon J. Parenton and William G. Haag have contributed much to the author's general theoretical orientation. Dr. Frederick Bates read and criticized the interview guide and made other suggestions which have improved this study. The work of preparing the manuscript for this study was made considerably easier by Mrs. Ruth Kugel who typed the first draft and corrected many errors. Thanks is also due to the author's wife, Mrs. Jacquelin K. Taylor, who proofread all of the final copy. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ACKNOWLEDGMENT...................................... ii ABSTRACT . ...........................................vii CHAPTER PART I INTRODUCTION I. INTRODUCTION .................................. 2 Statement of the Problem.................... 6 Purpose of the S t u d y ........................ 8 A pioneering study ........................ 9 Sources of Data and Methodology.............. 10 The Sociological Point of V i e w .............. 20 Occupational structure .......... ..... 21 Occupational organizations ........ .... 23 Occupational functions .................... 25 The Organization of the Study................ 26 PART II THE OCCUPATIONAL HISTORY AND ORGANIZATION OF THE INDUSTRY II. OCCUPATIONAL HISTORY OF THE LIFE INSURANCE MAN................................ 30 Pre-history of the Occupation. 31 Life insurance provisions of early organizations............................ 32 From the game of chance a social idea. 35 More recent Origins of the Occupation. .... 39 From trial and error to science. ...... 39 Growth of the Occupation . ............ 51 The agent as a species of the genus salesman.......................... 53 Present status of the occupation .......... 88 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER PAGE III. HOW THE LIFE INSURANCE INDUSTRY IS ORGANIZED................................ 92 Organization of the Home Office.......... 94 Directors. .............................. 94 Officers .............................. 95- Departments ................................ 95 Organization of the Field.......... 101 The general agency system.....................101 The general manager syst e m ...................103 Organization of the agen c y.............. 104 Profes s iona1 Organization s:. and State Supervision.............................108 PART III OCCUPATIONAL STRUCTURE IV. RECRUITMENT AND TRAINING.........................112 Recruitment. .......... 112 Producers.................. 114 Administrators...............................127 Training....................................... 132 Agency and company training...................135 Institutional training schools ............ 140 Training provided by life insurance organizations.....................144 Significance of the Recruitment and Training Systems for the Occupation.......... 150 V. AUTHORITY, CONTROL AND ETHICS.....................158 Authority and Status Relationships ...... 161 Soliciting agents.............................162 Managerial field force . .......... 169 The home office. .......... 172 Control by Associations.........................175 National Association of Life Underwriters ............................ 177 L.U.T.C. and C.L.U............................181 American Life Convention .................. 187 Life Insurance Agency Management Association.................................190 E t h i c s ............ 193 The Significance of Authority, Control and Ethics for the Occupation.................197 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER PAGE VI. REMUNERATION AND OTHER REWARDS.................. 201 Economic Remuneration.......................... 203 Producers.....................................204 Administrators ............................ 216 Security and fringe benefits .............. 222 Non-economic Rewards ........................ 225 Organizational rewards .................... 226 Personal rewards . .......... ..... 232 Significance of Remuneration and Other Rewards for the Occupation.................. 234 PART IV OCCUPATIONAL ORGANIZATION VII. WORK SITUATIONS AND COLLEAGUl SHIP RELATIONSHIPS. .................. 240 The Work Situation.............................244 The daily work schedule.................... 244 Prospect-client contacts .................. 258 Colleague Relationships. .... ............ 279 Significance of the Work Situation and Client Relationships for the Occupation...................................286 VIII. CLIENT RELATIONSHIPS.............................290 Conceptions of the Client...................... 293 The life insurance man views the clients.....................................293 Client reactions with life insurance men as seen by practitioners ............ 302 Social Interaction with Clients and Prospects.....................................310 Selling relationships with prospects and clients................................ 311 Service relationships with policyholders • and clients................................ 323 Significance of Client Relationships for the Occupation............ 325 IX. CAREER PATTERNS............ 329 Producers.......................................332 Career-professional life insurance men . , 332 Itinerant life insurance men ........ 340 Administrators .............................. 349 Field administrators.................. .. 349 Home office administrators.................. 357 v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER PAGE Significance of Career Patterns for the Occupation...................... .. 361 PART V RELATION OF THE OCCUPATION TO SOCIETY AND SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS X. RELATIONS TO SOCIETY ....................... 367 Relations with Other Occupations . * . 368 Relations with lawyers....................369 Relations with other occupational men. 374 Service to Society........................ 376 XI. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS.............. .......... 385 Summary........................ 385 Conclusions............ 390 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY...................................405 APPENDIX............................................... 421 VITA ................................................... 439 vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT This is an occupational study of life insurance men (both producers and administrators) in a sociological frame of reference. The purpose of the study is to contribute to the growing body of knowledge concerning occupations. It is intended to be of interest to practitioners, to persons interested in acquiring a knowledge of the occupation and, primarily, to social scientists. Data for the study came from the literature on life insurance and personal interviews with life insurance men. The literature analyzed consisted mainly of trade journal and company publications. It was treated as an expression of the ’‘official” ideology of life insurance men. Inter views were held with sixty-four practitioners (producers and administrators). Respondents were selected by using a quota sample so that they would represent companies domiciled in all regions of the country, from the oldest to the newest companies and from conservative and liberal companies. Respondents ranged from practitioners with long careers in life insurance to part-time men. Data from the literature and the interviews