Work Values of University Students in Chinese Mainland, Taiwan, and Hong Kong

Abstract

Leuty and Hansen (Journal of Vocational Behavior 79:379–390, 2011 ) identified six domains of work values in undergraduate students in the West. The review undertaken in this paper suggests that the factor structure of work values of university students in Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong essentially matches these six domains, except for the omission of ‘Family Maintenance’ and Wang’s (Indigenous Psychological Research in Chinese Societies 2:206–250, 1993 ) ‘Instrumental Values.’ This suggests some commonality in the work values construct between the East and West, but there are a few subtle differences. It is argued that such differences heighten the need for measurement scales with context-specific and society-specific items when examining work values in different settings.

Individual differences in importance ratings of Chinese values and their associations with the Big Five of personality in Western and Eastern populations

“…Confucianism had been seriously attacked in Mainland China during the Cultural Revolution occurring between 1966 and 1976, which influenced all aspects of life. Of note and in line with this, studies showed significant differences in some aspects of moral and work values of adolescents and college students between Mainland China and Taiwan [46,47]. Nevertheless, the influence of Confucianism is still strongly felt in Modern Mainland China.…”

Motivation for Occupational Preference Among Students of Regional Maritime University in Nungua, Accra- Ghana

“…To be able to work or be employed means much more than just earning some money. Individuals attach specific importance to most aspects of work and these values tend to influence how they choose specific career paths and the way they feel about the work they engage in (Wong& Yuen, 2012). Work plays a key role not only because it is the primary source of income to some people, but also because it is the foundation for social participation and inclusion as well as social status, consumption, health, family life, and so on.…”

“…Several studies conceptualized work values as the criteria that individuals use for judging and selecting occupations, or what was important and desirable to them in vocational activities. Work values were viewed as personal belief systems that focused on what were important for fulfilling individuals' personal needs (Wong & Yuen, 2012).It is worth noting that people make occupational preferences based on some specific personal factors and that people who enter different occupations have different outlook on work as an aspect of life; as evidenced by the fact that students who enrolled in different programmes expressed stable vocational value differences (Osipow, 1983).…”

A Cultural Analysis of Employees' Work Values and Their Consequences for Work-Related Outcomes: The Case of China

“…Despite the tremendous strides made by organizational scholars to advance our understanding of the positive linkages between employees' perceived P-O fit and its correlates, out collective knowledge is still limited as to the processes whereby an employee's perceived P-O fit is linked to work outcomes. Specifically, a number of scholars have called for more empirical efforts to be focused on exploring the boundary conditions that can impact the relationship between P-O fit and outcome variables (Kim, Aryee, Loi & Kim, 2013;Cable & DeRue, 2002;Edwards, 2008; valued (Wong & Yuen, 2012). Therefore, studying in the China context would allow us to gain a more fine-grained and nuanced understanding toward theorizing work values and generations.…”

“…Second, although the construct of work values has attracted increased attention from both scholars and practitioners alike, there is no clear consensus in regards to its conceptual domain as reflected from a variety of its definitions (Bu & McKeen, 2001;Dose, 1997;Wong & Yuen, 2012). Similarly, despite increasing consensus among researchers that P-O fit is conceptualized as a multifaceted construct, most empirical research has continued to use a single-item measure asking a respondent to rate to what extent he/she feels there is a fit with his/her employer.…”