Generational Differences In Attitudes Research Articles

Do regional and generational differences in attitudes toward "Luck Resource Belief" exist?

This article examines whether belief in superstitions and folklore differs by age and degree of modernization specifically. This study investigated regional and generational differences in attitudes toward "Luck Resource Belief," a notion regarding luck. The 500 Japanese participants in our sample were stratified by place of residence, age, and income. The results reflected gender differences, but not regional or generational differences with regard to the "Luck Resource Belief" scale scores. Based on these results, the hypothesis that the mass media plays a major role in the dissemination of information about superstitions and folklore is discussed in this context.

Attitudes Toward Women’s Work and Family Roles in the United States, 1976–2013

We examine time period and generational differences in attitudes toward women’s work and family roles in two large, nationally representative U.S. samples, the Monitoring the Future survey of 12th graders (1976–2013) and the General Social Survey of adults (1977–2012). Twelfth graders became more accepting of working mothers and equal roles for women in the workplace between the 1970s and the 2010s, with most change occurring between the 1970s and the late 1990s. Acceptance of dual-income families and fathers working half-time or not at all (stay-at-home dads) also increased. Thus, for the most part, Millennials (born 1980s–1990s) have continued trends toward more egalitarian gender roles. However, slightly more 12th graders in the 2010s (vs. the late 1990s) favored the husband as the achiever and decision maker in the family. Adults’ attitudes toward working mothers became more egalitarian between the 1970s and the early 1990s, showed a small “backlash” in the late 1990s, and then continued the trend toward increased egalitarianism in the 2000s and 2010s. In hierarchical linear modeling analyses separating the effects of time period, generation/cohort, and age, trends were primarily due to time period with a generational peak in egalitarianism among White women Boomers (born 1946–1964). Policy makers should recognize that support for working mothers is now a solid majority position in the United States and design programs for working families accordingly.

Older Chinese Immigrants’ Relationships With Their Children: A Literature Review From a Solidarity–Conflict Perspective

Older Chinese immigrants are one of the largest and fastest growing groups in Western societies. This article used the solidarity-conflict model to synthesize current research examining parent-child relationships in this group. A comprehensive literature search was conducted in the CINAHL, Medline, and PubMed databases to identify relevant articles. A narrative approach was used to review the literature. Thirty-six articles were identified. Compared with Caucasians, older Chinese immigrants are more likely to live with children and have higher filial expectations. However, considerable numbers live independently. Of these, most live in public housing and rely on the community rather than their children for instrumental help. Many older Chinese immigrants have adjusted their filial expectations and valued being independent. They also provide extensive household help to their children. There are indications of intergenerational conflict, probably due to generational differences in attitudes toward life and limited intergenerational contact. This review suggests that although filial piety continues to influence older parent-child relationship in Chinese immigrant families, many changes have occurred. These findings have important implications for service planning and delivery for this cultural group. This review also provides evidence for the utility of the solidarity-conflict model.

ATTITUDES ABOUT SOCIO-MORAL ISSUES AMONG RELIGIOUS AND SECULAR YOUTH

Recent headlines suggest that Americans, and American youth in particular, are growing more liberal in their attitudes about social and moral issues. Do these trends suggest that the oft discussed “culture wars” are nearing an end? We examine this possibility by asking whether younger generations of religious and secular Americans do indeed espouse more liberal attitudes about sociomoral issues than their counterparts in older generations. We focus specifically on differences within and across religious groups in attitudes about four issues: abortion, same-sex marriage, stem cell research, and the environment. We are especially interested in comparing generational differences in attitudes about high profile, “old-line” wedge issues (abortion and same-sex marriage) in the culture wars with newer, lower profile issues (stem cell research and the environment). Using the 2008 National Annenberg Election Survey, we find that religious youth are generally not more liberal than older religious individuals.

Harvesting the Law: Personal Reflections on Thirty Years of Change in Agricultural Legislation

The article relies on the author’s thirty plus years as an agricultural law professor to examine the development and evolution of agricultural related legislation in the United States. He classifies the development into four distinct but overlapping eras: the traditional development period, the transitional family farm period, the industrial agriculture Big Ag period, and the post-industrial food democracy period, and examines the role laws play in promoting the goals and values of the periods. His analysis identifies the predictability of legal conflicts between different versions of agriculture, especially during the periods of transition between eras – and identifies several current legal disputes that reflect this process. The article examines the generational differences in attitudes and perspectives of students and professors of agricultural and food law, in part influenced by when they were raised and the type of agricultural they experienced. He notes the newer generation of agricultural and food law professors are predominantly female, and come to the topic through food and other non-traditional topics such as animal welfare, food access, and farm worker concerns. The articles uses a legislative analysis to characterize various examples of agricultural legislation both as to the purpose and the effectiveness. The article concludes with examples of important agricultural law topics for future development.

A rising generation of Europeans? Life‐cycle and cohort effects on support for ‘Europe’

AbstractDespite much research on age and attitudes, it remains unclear whether age reflects accumulated life experience or conditions prevailing during an individual's formative years – that is, a life‐cycle effect or a cohort effect. In respect to attitudes towards the European Union (EU), the issue is particularly important. Although many analyses indicate a correlation between age and support, the relationship has not been adequately theorised and extant analyses have generated contradictory results. In this article, theoretical expectations for both life‐cycle and cohort effects on support for the EU are developed and tested using a cross random effects model. This not only identifies the nature of an age‐support relationship, but also highlights substantial generational differences in attitudes towards European integration and explains the inconsistencies in extant empirical analyses.

Acceptable and Unacceptable Immigrants: How Opposition to Immigration in Britain is Affected by Migrants' Region of Origin

Comparative European research has established that public opposition to immigration is widespread and politically important. However, most existing research has suffered from a serious methodological shortcoming: it employs aggregate measures of attitudes to immigrants, which do not distinguish between different migrant groups. This paper corrects this shortcoming by examining disaggregated British attitudes to migration from seven different regions. I find evidence for a consistent hierarchy of preferences between immigrant groups, with white and culturally more proximate immigrant groups less opposed than non-white and culturally more distinct immigrants. The differences in attitudes to the various migrant groups are very large, calling into question the reliability of analyses which employ aggregate measures of attitudes to immigration. Both total opposition to migration and discrimination between migrant groups decline during the period examined. This is the result of large generational differences in attitudes to immigrants, which are in turn the consequence of cohort differences in education levels, ethnic diversity and, in particular, value orientations. Younger Britons, who are on average less authoritarian and ethnocentric, oppose immigration less and regard different immigrant groups more equally.

Generational differences in China: career implications

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine generational differences in attitudes toward careers in China. Generational differences are quite apparent in Chinese society. People who were born in the 1960s experienced the Cultural Revolution in their childhood. Those born in the 1970s witnessed the dramatic and profound social changes after China's open‐door policy was enforced. The generation born in the 1980s is believed to be the spoiled generation that highly values materialism and self‐realization, due to being the only child in the family as a result of the “One Child” policy.Design/methodology/approachThe authors surveyed Chinese people between 20 and 50 years old about their career attitudes to explore six hypotheses based on predicted patterns of generational change.FindingsThe paper found more differences in desired attributes of their manager than in their perception of themselves. Some career attitudes and abilities vary across the three generations but, given the historical and common assumptions of generational change, extensive differences were not found.Research limitations/implications:The authors' sample of 277 can only provide general insights into Chinese attitudes, given the size and diversity of the Chinese population. The study hopes to spur further research into generational differences in China and elsewhere.Practical implicationsThe paper provides insight into how the generational groups in China currently in the workforce think about their careers. Generational clashes in the workplace are also discussed.Originality/valueNo previous projects directly use the studies method or concepts in China. It builds on past work examining work values and career attitudes in China to contribute insights into generational differences within China.

Explaining time trends in public opinion: Attitudes towards immigration and immigrants

Why does public opinion change over time? Much debate on this question centers on whether it is caused by the replacement of people or by individuals changing how they think. Theoretical approaches to this question have emphasized the importance of birth cohort succession, generational differences, and changing macro-economic conditions. In this article, we consider the extent to which these processes can account for changing attitudes towards immigration and immigrants. We use a new approach to the study of time trends in public opinion to analyze over 20 years of data on attitudes in Canada. This approach uses multi-level analysis to split attitudinal change into its cohort and period components. We find that most attitude change is the result of changing macro-economic conditions. In contrast, birth cohort succession has little effect. While there is modest evidence of generational differences in attitudes, these differences do not comprise a major part of the overall trend.

Y Works: Generational Differences in Attitudes Towards Workplace Success

Generation Y is entering the workforce in large numbers and, because this generation holds different values than previous generations, accounting firms are having difficulty managing these new hires. It is important to determine whether Generation Y will be able to make meaningful, long-term changes or if they will be forced to adapt to the given situation. I examine Generation Y’s ability to impact average hours worked and average salaries in the United States and Canadian Accounting, Marketing, and Legal industries. I examine this impact using regression analyses with particular interest on the number of Baby Boomer, Generation X, and Generation Y members in the workforce. I find that more Generation Y employees in the workplace is associated with significant decreases in average hours worked in the Accounting and Legal industries, but produces no significant effect on salaries. This result is important in the accounting industry as, out of the three industries analyzed, it is the most at odds with Gen Y characteristics. This situation will likely result in a shortage of quality workers or it may force accounting firms to face more far-reaching Gen Y induced changes. If the accounting industry fails to respond in some manner to the changes Gen Y wants to implement, Gen Y members may leave their jobs in favour of an industry that better suits their personality traits. I conclude that Generation Y, even at this early stage, appears able to change the workplace and may view workplace success differently than previous generations.

Generational patterns in academic performance: The variable effects of attitudes and social capital

This paper uses recent data on tenth graders’ performance, and school and family lives to provide a current assessment of generational disparities in math and reading scores, and to evaluate the roles played by a broad range of predictors in creating the observed relative performance of immigrant, second- and third-generation students. In the presence of a wide range of predictors, we find that preschool-aged immigrants outperform the third-plus generation in reading, while the third-plus generation scored higher than school-aged immigrants in reading and outperformed the second generation in both math and reading. We also find that all children of immigrants benefit from very high parental expectations, and that recently arrived immigrants have strong feelings of school attachment which they manifest in pro-school behaviors. In contrast, third-plus generation students socialize more heavily and are relatively indifferent toward school, but have access to more and stronger forms of between-family social capital. These generational differences in attitudes and social capital, and their subsequent effects on generational disparities in academic performance, lend considerable support to the immigrant optimism hypothesis.

What prevents older people from seeking treatment for urinary incontinence? A qualitative exploration of barriers to the use of community continence services

Urinary incontinence is a significant health problem for older people. Many people with incontinence do not seek services. Simple and effective treatments exist in primary care. Our aim was to explore reasons why older people living in the community do not present for help with problems of urinary incontinence and to identify ways in which they may be assisted to access continence services. In-depth interviews lasting an average of 1 h were conducted with 20 people aged over 65 years living in the community, purposively selected from a sample of patients who volunteered to be interviewed. Older people described ageing as a natural, degenerative process and had reduced health expectations. Urinary incontinence was commonly viewed as an inevitable aspect of ageing and, as such, something to be accepted and managed independently. Shame and embarrassment combined with generational differences in attitudes to disclosure about personal matters also prevented people from seeking advice. Relatively successful strategies to manage incontinence enabled people to contain their symptoms, although this was at a social, psychological and, in some cases, health cost. Older people in this sample had considerable co-morbidity, in many cases resulting in mobility problems. Despite regular contact with primary care professionals, they had seldom disclosed their urinary incontinence. A combination of personal attitudes and practical barriers prevent older people from seeking help for urinary incontinence. It is possible that older people would be more likely to seek help if asked specifically about urinary leakage by primary health care professionals.

Migration Behavior of the Suburban Second Generation

This paper examines the migration careers of people who have been raised in the suburbs, called the “suburban second generation, ” and the conditions that have influenced their migration. The study area is Kozoji New Town of the city of Kasugai located 20 km from Nagoya. The analysis is based on a questionnaire survey and interviews. According to the questionnaire, the migration characteristics of the respondents differ between men and women. While unmarried, the ratios of people who continue to live with their parents and migrate within a short dintance are higher among women than men. Upon marriage, the ratio of people who move a long distance is higher among women than men. Next, the author collected biographical information from three people who were raised in Kozoji New Town by interview and examined the conditions that influenced their migration. Migration after graduation from high school is generally restricted by formal conditions such as the high school career counseling system and the university entrance examination system. But parental attitudes and wishes, particularly positive vinus of the traditional gender roles, also affect the migration of youth. Upon entering employment, the disadvantageous conditions of entering the labor market for new female graduates affects the behavior among women in terms of coresiding with parents. After graduation, informal conditions such as family situation and financial conditions are important. Those with no experience of higher education, regular employment and marriage, often regard coresidence with parents as more a matter of course than as an economic strategy. This is due to societal norms in Japan that permit prenuptial coresidence with parents. Taking for granted the gender division of labor after marriage, women migrate to near their husbands parental home and workplace on the assumption that they will quit their jobs. Moreover, the physical conditions of the parental home and its neighborhood restrict postnuptial coresidence. There are various expectations held by married couples and their parents regarding postnuptial living arrangements, and thus married couples are likely to experience psychological conflict. In addition, generational differences in attitudes concerning the norm of preference for the eldest son and the increase in the ratio of eldest children serve to intensify such conflict. Most conditions influencing the migration of the suburban second generation reflect the following characteristics of suburbs and metropolitan areas: 1. There are many parents in the suburbs who chose the type of employment leading to the gender division of labor. 2. There are abundant employment and educational opportunities in metropolitan areas. 3. The ratio of those raised in the suburbs to the people living in metropolitan areas is higher than in the preceding generation. 4. Residential sections in the suburbs have mostly been developed for the sake of young nuclear family households. Hence, the past actions and features of the parents‚ generation have partly formed the present characteristics of suburbs. The migration of people who have been raised in the suburbs should be placed on a time continuum from their parents‚ inflow into the suburbs to the present.

Job Satisfaction Among Russian Workers

Why do Russians work without wages? This paper investigates the extent to which job satisfaction and attitude toward work in general may account for the observed behavior of Russian workers. To analyze the level and determinants of job satisfaction among Russian workers, this paper utilizes survey data collected from 1,200 workers and managers employed in seventy-six organizations in Moscow, Saratov and Taganrog The paper is divided into five parts. Part 1 presents the three measures of job satisfaction used in this analysis. Response patterns, analyzed by occupational status, gender, and generation, are discussed. Part 2 first explores gender and generational differences in attitudes toward work in general, and then examines the relationship between attitude toward work and job satisfaction. The results indicate that both gender and generation are significant in response patterns regarding attitudes toward work. Generational differences also are significant in response patterns relating the results of working hard to performance, productivity, and doing the job well. Regression analysis documents the positive relationship between attitude toward work and the level of job satisfaction. Part 3 focuses on the relationship between job satisfaction and performance. Three noteworthy results emerge. First, regardless of the specification or measure, there is a strong positive correlation between job satisfaction and performance. The relationship is not affected by gender, age, or educational attainment level of the respondents. Second, it is not possible using these data to establish causality between job satisfaction and performance. It appears, instead, that unspecified factors may be affecting the two conditions simultaneously. Finally, the results generated from these data are not significantly different from results based on previous surveys of U.S. workers, as well as a survey completed in 1996 of Russian and Polish workers. Part 4 analyzes the relationship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Among the workers participating in this survey there is, generally, only a moderate degree of organizational commitment. Commitment is highest among workers who feel they are making a contribution. The results document a positive relationship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment, although the causality is not well-defined. Concluding remarks are offered in Part 5.

The Impact of Age and Education on Response Order Effects in Attitude Measurement

This article addresses the impact of age and education on the emergence of response order effects. Previous research has suggested that response order effects are stronger for respondents with less formal education. Education, however, is negatively correlated with age. Therefore, the apparent educational differences in response order effects might in fact reflect differences in age. A series of meta-analyses of experiments originally conducted by Howard Schuman and Stanley Presser and subsequent hierarchical logistic regression analyses demonstrate that there is a statistically reliable relationship between response order effects and age and that this relationship is not explained by education. Age-related differences in response order effects may undermine substantive conclusions about age or generational differences in attitudes

Generational Differences in Attitudes and Socioeconomic Status among Hispanics in Houston

The complex variety of experiences that characterize the current wave of immigration have prompted revisions in the classic model of straight‐line assimilation; the most important alternative theory is based on the concept of “segmented” assimilation. This paper assesses the validity of these two perspectives with data on three generations of Hispanic immigrants in Houston. Contrary to the standard assimilation model, third‐generation Hispanics are not staying in school longer, nor are they earning higher wages than members of the second generation. But contrary to the segmented‐assimilation model, third‐generation Hispanics also give no evidence at all of having assimilated into an “adversarial” culture that rejects mainstream American values and is presumably responsible for restricting their upward mobility. The data reaffirm the pivotal role of education in determining occupational mobility, and they point to the importance of identifying the external societal factors that account for the stalled progress in educational achievement among third‐generation Hispanic Americans.

A Critique of "In Search of Token Women in Academia"

The research of Young, MacKenzie, & Sherif (1980), designed to test Laws' (1975) analysis of token women in academia, is criticized on several methodological and conceptual grounds. The appropriateness of the study as a test of Laws' theory is questioned since no evidence is offered for the validity of the independent variables as measures of tokenism. Alternative explanations for their data, centering primarily on generational differences in attitudes and values, are examined briefly.

A Critique of “In Search of Token Women in Academia”

The research of Young, MacKenzie, & Sherif (1980), designed to test Laws' (1975) analysis of token women in academia, is criticized on several methodological and conceptual grounds. The appropriateness of the study as a test of Laws' theory is questioned since no evidence is offered for the validity of the independent variables as measures of tokenism. Alternative explanations for their data, centering primarily on generational differences in attitudes and values, are examined briefly.

Service Provision and the Elderly: Attitudes of Three Generations of Urban Women

The “women's movement” is viewed as having a profound effect on lifestyle in contemporary American society. This paper addresses the impact of women's changing roles on care for the dependent elderly. Specifically, three generations of urban women were surveyed to determine attitudes regarding filial responsibility, gender appropriate roles, independence and dependence, and projected preferences for service providers. The findings suggested generational differences in attitudes toward these issues. Moreover, the data supported an increasing need for allocation of resources that facilitate self-management and independent living. Occupational therapy is identified as a discipline with great potential for providing long term community professional services to facilitate independent living among the elderly. Limitations of community services models utilizing occupational therapists are discussed. Recommendations are provided for needed research on program components, viewed as essential to a successful system of service provision.