A Cross-Sectional Study Of Cross-Generational Value Differences In China

Cultural values are the normative system that guides a society in solving societal problems and attaining societal goals(Schwartz,2006).Cultural value change,reflecting the way society functions in response to inner and outer stimulus and problems,is of great significance in understanding Chinese experience of modernization and globalization.With the momentum of globalization and modernization,China has experienced tremendous economic,social,political,and cultural transformation over the past few decades.The contemporary Chinese culture landscape,marked by the coexistence of modernization/globalization-induced values and some aspects of traditional values,is no longer as "intact" as it used to be.One particular epitome of culture change is the differences in values that has been observed between generations.Factors such as the one-child policy,higher education,and rising exposure to western media all contribute to the psychological gap between younger generation and their parents' generation(Wang,2006).This thesis aims to gain insight into Chinese cultural change by examining cultural value differences between young people and their parents' generation using Schwartz's Value Survey,a measure that provides a comprehensive list of value items widely recognized around the world(Schwartz,1992,1994a).A hybridized cultural paradigm,which posits the coexistence of changes in some cultural domains and stability in others,was utilized as the main theoretical framework.Based on this framework,this paper investigated value change regarding its priority and structure.Historical importance of SVS value items was also evaluated to provide further insight into value change in terms of values' level of centrality.Finally,the correlations between values and life satisfaction in both generations were explored.Three patterns of value priority change were found.First,compared with the parents' generation's value preferences,the younger generation's values are becoming more hierarchical rather than egalitarian.Second,there is an increase in autonomy and decrease in embeddedness.However,this trend is only limited to value items of low and moderate historical importance,and embeddedness elements of high historical importance remain perennial over time.Third,both generations value harmony equally.The analysis of the value structure of both generations has yielded three major findings.First,in the younger generation,value items are less spread out,and the value domain boundaries are not as clear-cut as those of their parents' generation.Second,embeddedness forms two domains in the younger generation,but only one in their parents' generation.Third,value items seem to form a three-region pattern in both generations from an indigenous perspective.Finally,life satisfaction has a low correlation with cultural values in parents' generation,but shows moderate negative correlations with affective and intellectual autonomy in younger generation.