Abstract
Do people believe that social success is determined by one's efforts or by luck? This study investigates factors that affect the Japanese values on social success. In particular, we focus on the impact of the economic situation at the time of graduation on the formation of worldview. Based on the data obtained from a survey entitled “Preference and Life Satisfaction Survey (conducted by Osaka University)”, we used answers to unique questions regarding individual behavioral characteristics. Controlling for individual heterogeneity in various factors and eliminating the individual response bias and measurement error possibly caused by the same individual's responses to subjective questions, the estimated results suggest that individuals who experienced an unanticipated economic depression at the time of graduation are more likely to believe that “social success is determined by luck rather than one's efforts”. In addition we found large significant differences in the formation of worldview between males and females.
