Allocation and Long-Term Change of Work Values:

Reanalysis of NHK Japanese Opinion Surveys

Abstract

This study aims to describe the allocation of work values and to discuss its longterm change among Japanese laborers. According to R. Inglehart's value change theory, social and economic affluence cause a cultural shift from materialist values toward postmaterialist values. This theory assumes time effects (scarcity hypothesis) and cohort effects (socialization hypothesis) to explain the value change in the whole society.
In the context of this study, materialist values mean extrinsic work values such as good-pay or job security. On the other hand, postmaterialist values correspond with intrinsic work values such as initiative, achievement, and autonomy. It is important to validate the empirical evidence about whether the younger cohort maintains intrinsic work values or not despite the economic instability and expanding social disparities after the 1990s.
In this study, we used correspondence analysis to describe the allocation of work values among male and female laborers and developed logistic regression models to test the assumption of time and cohort effects by using long-term repeated survey data. The following results were derived from the analysis of the NHK Japanese Opinion Surveys conducted from 1973 to 2008. First, the young cohort that has been socialized in the period of rapid economic growth basically emphasizes intrinsic work values compared to the older cohort that has grown-up during a less affluent period. However, more importantly, especially after the collapse of the bubble economy in the early 1990s, intrinsic work values orientation among the younger cohort has been weakened. In contrast, orientation towards extrinsic work values, such as job security, increased. This result suggests the possibility of emergence of a value fluctuation, especially among younger generations.