Social Forces, University of North Carolina Press
Age and the Meaning of Work in the United States and Japan
Author(s): Karyn A. Loscocco and Arne L. Kalleberg
Source: Social Forces, Vol. 67, No. 2 (Dec., 1988), pp. 337-356
Published by: University of North Carolina Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2579185 .
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AgeandtheMeaningofWorkin theUnited
StatesandJapan*
KARYN
ARNE
A.
L.
LOSCOCCO,
KALL
EB ERG,
StateUniversity
ofNewYorkat
Albany
University
ofNorthCarolinaat
ChapelHill
Abstract
Thispaperjoinscentral
concerns
in thesociology
ofworkandthesociology
of
aging.Agedifferences
inworkcommitment
andworkvaluesareexamined,
as
wellas their
workandnonwork
determinants,
usingdatafrom
4,567American
and3,735Japanese
Ourresults
employees.
showthatoldermenaremorecommittedtoworkthanyounger
meninbothJapanandtheUnitedStates.Thispattern
alsoholdsforAmerican
women,
butthere
arenoagedifferences
in workcommitmentamongJapanese
zwmen.Moreover,
there
aregreater
agedifferences
among
theJapanese
in theimportance
placedongoodpay.Thisis consistent
withthe
viewthatthere
hasbeengreater
cultural
changein recent
yearsinJapanthanin
theUnitedStates.
The studyofage differences
in themeaningofworkjoins twoimportant
strandsof sociologicalinquiry.People'sworkcommitment
and workvalues are important
of thequalityof theirworkroles,a central
barometers
concernin the sociologyofwork,whileage is increasingly
becomingrecognized as one of the major bases of social stratification.
Despite the
complementarity
of theseconcerns,mostdiscussionsof the meaningof
workdo not address the ways in whichworkattitudesdifferat various
pointsin the lifecourse. Nor has researchon aging and social change
*Apreviousversionofthispaperwas presentedat the1987meetings
oftheAmerican
SociologicalAssociation.We thankthe manypeople who workedon the Indianapolis/Tokyo
Study.In addition,we gratefully
acknowledgetheusefulcomments
ofGlennaSpitzeand 2
anonymousreferees,
and theassistanceofJoyceRobinson.Directcorrespondence
to Karyn
A. Loscocco,Department
ofSociology,
SUNY,Albany,NY 12222.
? 1988The University
ofNorthCarolinaPress
337
338/Social ForcesVolume67:2,December1988
typically
focusedon the meaningof work.Yet sociologicalperspectives
on age suggestthatthe meaningof workchangesas individualsmove
bydifferent
configurations
throughvariouslifestages,each characterized
historical
contexts.
ofworkand nonworkrolesand bydifferent
to improve
Cross-national
researchprovidesa unique opportunity
in themeaningofwork.Countriesdiffer
understanding
ofage differences
oftheirlabor
in theircultures,worksystems,and in theage composition
largelyset the parameters
forces;these macroscopiccountrydifferences
withinwhichboth workviews (Schein1983) and age (Foner& Kertzer
in perceptionsofworkand in the
1978)are defined.Nationaldifferences
age normswhichgovernworkand nonworkroles are the subjectsof a
thatpointsto theuniqueness
largescholarly
as well as popularliterature
as a partialexplanationfor
of Japaneseworkvalues and commitments
in recentyears.
Japan'ssuperiorindustrial
performance
to
The assumptionthatthe Japaneseare morehighlycommitted
work(e.g., Marsh& Mannari1977)has been used to explaintheirtendencyto takemuchless vacationtimethantheirAmericancounterparts
and to put in extrahourswithoutpay (Cole 1979b;Levine1981).Because
to
socialinterdependence
is such an important
valuein Japan,in contrast
ofAmericans,theJapaneseare oftenseen as
the "ruggedindividualism"
havinga less competitive,
more cooperativeattitudetowardstheircoworkers.The typicalmanufacturing
employeein Japanis assumed to
place less value on individualrewardssuch as highwages and moreim1981).
portanceon harmoniousworkgrouprelations(Bartholomew
which
However,thereis anotherstrongcurrentin the literature
suggeststhatsuch a depictionof typicalJapaneseemployeesrelativeto
theirAmericancounterparts
is, or soon will be, obsolete.YoungerJapatheworkattitudesand concominese employeesare said to approximate
tantbehaviorof theirWesterncounterparts
(e.g., Cole 1979b;Woronoff
1981).Ifthisis thecase, assumptionsaboutthereasonforJapan'ssuperior
economicsuccess,whichhas been linkedtimeand again to theJapanese
withwork,maysoon be obsoleteas well.
employee'sclose identification
Despitetheimportance
oftheseissues,evidencebased on explicitly
scarce.In this
studiesofJapanand theU.S. is conspicuously
comparative
in themeaningofworkusing
paper,we seekto documentage differences
employees.
samplesof4,567Americanand 3,735Japanesemanufacturing
and
We thenattemptto accountforage patternsin workcommitment
in
on
values
each
country
the
of
both
and
nonwork
charwork
basis
work
We examinethese patternsseparatelyformen and women
acteristics.
sinceage normsoftendiffer
markedly
bygender(Rossi1984),especiallyin
of
than
where
the
roles
women
and
men
arefarmoredifferentiated
Japan,
issuesraisedby
in theU.S. We firstdiscussbriefly
somemajortheoretical
in themeaningofwork.
a consideration
ofage differences
Workin U.S. and Japan/339
ExplainingAge Differences
in theMeaningof Workin theU.S. and
Japan
AGE AND THE MEANING OF WORK
Workhas no inherentmeaning:rather,culturesand individualsattach
variousmeaningsto thisactivity
(Mills1956).1The conceptofthemeaning
ofworkhas twomaincomponents:
commitment,
a generalorientation
work
thatreflectsthe importanceof the workrole to the identity;and more
specificworkvalues,whichrepresentthe functionsthatworkservesfor
people. Those who are highlycommittedto workdefineand evaluate
themselvesin termsof workratherthan nonworkroles. Specificwork
valuesincludetheimportance
whichpeople place on particular
aspectsof
socialrelationships,
and job
work,such as pay,promotionopportunities,
security
(Loscocco1985).
byage, and important
feaWorkand nonworkrolesare structured
ages
turesoftheseroleshave beenused toexplainwhypeopleofdifferent
varyin theirworkcommitment
(Lodahl& Kejner1965;McKelvey& SekarPast researchon work
an 1977)and workvalues (Loscoccoforthcoming).
of
attitudessuggeststhatthemeaningofworkis shapedbycharacteristics
bothworkand nonworksocialroles(e.g., Kalleberg1977;Kohn& Schooler 1983;Lawler & Hall 1970). Thus, the natureof people's jobs has an
and workvalues.The rewards
important
effect
on theirworkcommitment
theextenttowhichone choosesworkover
associatedwithone'sjob affect
nonworkrolesas a sourceofidentity;
job rewardsalso affectwhatone is
likelyto value in theworksituation(Lawler& Hall 1970;Morse& Weiss
represented
by nonworksocial
1955).The constraints
and opportunities
roles(e.g., familyrelations)also influencethemeaninga personattaches
to theworkactivity
(Dubin 1956;Goldthorpeet al. 1968),sincethesecolor
ofneedsas wellas providealternative
sourcesofcommitment.
perceptions
in themeaning
Thereare twomajorperspectives
on age differences
of work.The sociocultural
perspectiveon the sociologyof age and aging
and possibilities
(Elder1975) maintainsthatage reflectsthe limitations
associatedwithan employee'spositionin both nonworkand workdoat different
mains.Forexample,thedemandsoffamily
lifediffer
stagesof
thelifecourse.Moreover,job rewardsare oftendifferentially
distributed
withinorganizations
on the basis of age norms(Riley,Johnson& Foner
1972).The sociohistorical
perspective(Elder1975)suggeststhatage differThisperspective
encesmayalso resultfromdifferential
socialization.
identifiesbirthcohortas an important
thedifferent
aspectofage whichreflects
socialization
fromsocietalshiftsin workvalues.Culexperiences
resulting
turalchange,whichaffectsmembersof variousbirthcohortsdifferently
340/Social ForcesVolume67:2,December1988
in theconceptions
(Dannefer1984;Riley1987)maylead to age differences
ofworkwhichare broughtto theworkplace.
in age and the
aboutsimilarities
and differences
Makingpredictions
meaningof workin the U.S. and Japanrequiresus to specifythe age
normsassociatedwithworkand nonworkrolesas well as the extentof
The complexity
of theseprocessesis mirsocial changein each country.
on themeaningofwork,
roredin thelackofconsensusamongresearchers
age normsor change in these phenomena.Studies provideconflicting
in the meaningof
views as to whetherwe should findage differences
and aboutthemagnitudeand direction
workat all in thesetwocountries,
thatdo exist.Consequently,our exploratory
study
of those differences
willexamineseveralalternative
scenariosthathave been proposedto describeage differences
in perceptions
ofworkin thesetwocountries.
COMPARING AGE PATTERNS IN THE U.S. AND JAPAN
have arguedthattherehavebeen majorchangesinJapanese
Manywriters
workers'beliefsabout the meaningof worksince the post-warperiod.
Theyproposethattheheydayofintenseworkgrouployaltyand commitmentto workin Japanhas passed. YoungerJapaneseworkersare less
to reportthatworkis their"central
inclinedthantheiroldercounterparts
concernin life"and are morelikelyto take theirallottedvacationtime
(Bartholomew
1981). The youngerJapaneseemployeeswantto workfor
tangiblerewardsratherthanthegreatergood and theyexpressmorepreference for a systemwhich ties pay to effortratherthan to seniority
studieshave shown that
(Woronoff
1981). A numberof cross-sectional
workvalues than their
youngerJapaneseworkershave less traditional
older counterparts
Takezawa
&
Whitehill
1981).Moreover,
(Odaka 1975;
fourworkattitudesurveysconductedat 5-yearintervals
provideevidence
of a strongnegativeeffectof youthon the workethic;youngJapanese
workersappearto be less committed
to workthantheirelders,and it has
been suggestedthatthisderivesfromchangesin thesocializationexperiencesofmorerecentbirthcohorts(Cole 1979a).
However,writersdisagreeabout the implicationsof a shiftaway
fromtraditional
workvalues in Japan-assumingit has occurred-fora
comparisonofthemeaningofworkbetweenAmericanand Japaneseemployees.Some authorsimplythatthe movementaway fromtraditional
workvalueshas been so greatin Japanthatwe shouldsee moreage variationin thatcountryand a close approximation
of Japaneseyouthto the
workvaluesoftheirAmericancounterparts
1981).Others
(e.g., Woronoff
as theirelders,but
arguethattheyoungJapanesearenotas work-oriented
thattheyare stillmorework-oriented
thanyoungAmericanemployees,
who also divergefromtheworkvaluesoftheirelders(Bartholomew
1981,
Takezawa& Whitehill
workers,in particu1981).YoungAmericanfactory
Workin U.S. and Japan/341
lar,havebeen describedas less committed
toworkand moreinterested
in
materialrewardsthan theirolder counterparts,
who were socializedto
identify
morestrongly
withwork(Sheppard& Herrick1971;Zuboff1983).
Thus, theJapanesemay be changingabsolutelybut not relatively,
since
socialchangeis occurring
at an even morerapidpace in theWest(Austin
1976).
Since age normsembeddedin Japaneseorganizational
structures
are more pronouncedthan in the U.S. (Cole 1979a),we would expect
theretobe largerage differences
in workcommitment
in Japanthanin the
U.S. As in thewidersociety,largeJapanesemanufacturing
organizations
are notedfortheirfinelyage-gradedhierarchies.
The nenkosystemoflifetimeemployment
and a cohort-based
wage and promotionsystemlead to
orderlycareersstructured
byage (Clark1979;Dore 1973).These employmentstructures
reflectthe operationof firminternallabormarkets(Lincoln& Kalleberg1985)thatprovidepromotion
forpeople of
opportunities
all ages and ensurethatjob rewardswillincreasewithtenure.
in the
Becauseage is so closelytiedto positionin Japan,differences
meaningofworkbetweenolderand youngerJapaneseworkersmayresult
in thenatureoftheirworkroles.In bothcountries,peofromdifferences
ple withthebestjobs are likelyto be themostcommitted
towork.Differences in values would resultfromthe tendencyto value what is most
availablefromthe job (Lodahl & Kejner1965).This line of reasoningis
supportedbypast studiesoftherelationbetweenjobs and workattitudes
in theU.S. and Japan,whichhave foundthattheunderlying
psychological processesare similar(e.g., Naoi & Schooler1985). Hence, any observeddifferences
betweenJapaneseand U.S. workersmay resultfrom
differences
betweenthe Japaneseemployment
system,describedabove,
and the U.S. worksystem,whichis oftenseen as a morecompetitive,
meritocratic
systemin whichyoungworkersfrequently
expectbetterjob
rewardsthantheirelders.
However,this descriptionof organizationalstructuresin Japan
holds onlyforthe largestmanufacturing
firms,and applies onlyto male
and full-time
employees.Moreover,an aginglaborforceand highcosts
resultingfrompast economicgrowthhave made it nearlyimpossiblefor
to continuerewarding
theirolderemployeesas libermanyorganizations
allyas theyhad done in the past (Cole 1971;Woronoff
1981).If the U.S.
in theirfirminternallabormarket
and Japando not differsubstantially
to prosystems,we wouldnotnecessarily
expectworkrolecharacteristics
in age patternsin the meaningof workin these two
duce differences
countries.
in age-relatedperceptionsof workmay also
Countrydifferences
in the relationberesultfromnonworksocial roles,such as differences
tweenworkand familyin Japanas opposed to theU.S. Traditional
Japanese culturespecifiesthata personis one withhis or herwork(Frager&
342/Social ForcesVolume67:2,December1988
Rohlen1976),resulting
in a lack of cleardemarcation
betweenworkand
nonworkroles(Shiota1982).Familyand worklivesare so interconnected
in Japan(Rohlen1974;Vogel1979),thatstrongidentification
withworkis
a signof commitment
to family(Schein1983).Sincefamilydemandsare
strongest
amongyoungerworkers,theyoungestJapaneseemployeesmay
be more committedto workthan theirelders. The oppositepatternis
morelikelyamongtheAmericans,
wherethelessenedfamily
responsibilitiesassociatedwithlaterlifefreetheindividualto focuson theworkrole.
Again,we mustnotethatthismajorculturaldifference
betweenthe two
countries
maybe eroding,as youngerJapaneseemployeesreportincreasinglythatfamilyand leisureare extremely
important
to them(e.g., Bartholomew1981). If thisis true,thenwe would expectnonworkrolesto
detractfromwork commitment
among the youngestworkersin each
in thedemandsof
country.
Thereis no reasonto expectthatage variation
familyroleswould affectperceptionsof whatis desirableabout employmentdifferently
in thetwocountries.
A comparisonofage differences
betweenthesetwocountriesmust
recognizethatmen and womenare affected
by age structures
and social
changein different
ways (Dannefer1984;Riley1987). In each country,
womenhave different
workexperiencesfrommen, but the differences,
and corresponding
age norms,are farmore pronouncedin Japan.Althoughover50 percentof Japanesewomen15 yearsor olderare in the
laborforce,mostare temporary
or part-time
employeeswho do notenjoy
in the internallabormarkets
the privilegesassociatedwithemployment
generallyfoundin largeJapanesemanufacturing
establishments:
lifetime
automaticpromotions
and pay increases,and lavishfringe
employment,
benefits
(Cook & Hayashi1980).In Japan,womenare recruited
differently
frommen,are placedon different
wage scales,and have farfewerchances
forpromotion(Woronoff
of largeenterprises
do
1981).The vastmajority
not hirewomenwho have collegedegrees.In fact,71 percentof major
Japanesefirmsdo notevenacceptapplicationsfromfemalecollegegraduates (Krisher1985).The highschoolgraduateswho are hiredare expected
toworkonlyfor4 to 6 years,at whichtimetheyare encouragedto retreat
to thehome.AlthoughmorerecentbirthcohortsofJapanesewomenare
less likelyto stop workingin theirtwentiesand morelikelyto returnto
workduringmiddleage (Holden 1983),theirworkexperiencesremain
verydifferent
fromthoseoftheirmalecounterparts.
In additionto receivingfewerrewardsthanmen,Japanesewomen
shifts
less bythesocialchangesand resultant
mayalso have been affected
in workvalues describedabove. If so, thenyoungmen in Japanand the
and workvalues
U.S. would be moresimilarin theirworkcommitments
the patterns
thanare youngwomenin the two countries.Consequently,
in the meaningof workshould be morepronounced
of age differences
betweenAmericanand Japanesewomenthanbetweenmen in the two
countries.
Workin U.S. and Japan/343
Our briefdiscussionof past researchhas suggesteda numberof
hypothesesregardingthe extentof, and reasonsfor,age differences
in
themeaningofworkin Japanas opposed to theUnitedStates.Ifitis true
thatthereis a morehighlydevelopedsystemofinternallabormarketsin
Japanesethanin Americanmanufacturing
enterprises-within
whichage
normsare firmly
embedded-thenwe shouldfindgreaterage differences
in the meaningof workin Japan.Alternatively,
or additionally,
stronger
beliefsabout work-family
interdependence
amongthe Japanesemay resultin moreage variation
in thisattitudein Japanthanin the-U.S.Finally,
iftherehas been a majorculturalshiftin Japan,we shouldfindthatthe
youngerJapanesediffer
morefromtheireldersin termsofworkcommitmentand workvalues thantheirAmericancounterparts,
irrespective
of
thecharacteristics
oftheirworkand nonworkroles.
We now describethedata we willuse to investigate
theseresearch
questions.
Data and Variables
DATA
and theiremployThe data comefroma 1982studyofworkorganizations
in theU.S. and Japan.Information
ees in sevenmanufacturing
industries
in about100plantsin theIndianapolis,
was collectedfromkeyinformants
Indianaregionand theAtsugiarea ofJapan;and from4,567Americanand
3,735Japanesemanagers,supervisors,and workersin theseplants(see
ofthestudyand data).
Lincoln& Kalleberg1989fora detaileddescription
The Americansin our sampleare somewhatolderthanthe Japanese (a mean of 38.6 yearsin the U.S. vs. 35 yearsin Japan).This unoftheeconomicrecesdoubtedlyresults,at leastin part,fromtheeffects
sion in Indianaat the timeof the study:the youngestworkersin these
in an olderaverage
plantsweremostlikelyto havebeen laid off,resulting
age forthosestillemployed.Despitebeingyounger,however,the Japanese in thesamplehavebeen employedslightly
longerbytheircompanies
thegreaterprevalence
(12.0yearsin Japan,11.3in theU.S.). Thisreflects
labormarketsin Japanas wellas thegreateropportunities
offirminternal
in theU.S.
forinter-firm
mobility
Our analysisproceedsin two steps.Firstwe describethedistribuand specificworkvalues across
tionof itemstappingworkcommitment
six age groupsforthe U.S. and Japan.These statistics
providesome insightintothe extentand formof age patternsin the two countries.We
then use multipleregressionanalysis to examinevarious hypotheses
of these
raisedby our precedingdiscussionregardingthe determinants
we seek to discoverwhethertheyare due to
age patterns;in particular,
in each country.
workor nonworkinfluences
344/Social ForcesVolume67:2,December1988
Next,we describebrieflythe variablesincludedin the regression
equations.
VARIABLES
Firminternallabormarkets(FILMs) are thekeyworkstructures
underlying organizational
careersand associatedage. norms;whetherone is a
in
memberofa FILM is thusan important
determinant
ofage differences
thenatureofworkrolesand themeaningofwork.Unfortunately,
we do
nothave direct,structural
measuresofFILMs thatareusefulfordifferentiatingthoseemployeeswho are on job laddersfromthosewho are not.
Therefore,
we measureFILM membershipindirectly,
by means of two
individual-level
variables:companytenureand promotionexpectations.
We assume thatlonger-tenured
employeesare morelikelyto belong to
FILMs thanthosewho have spentless timewitha company.Moreover,
we assumethatemployeeswho expectto be promotedare morelikelyto
be on job laddersthanthosewho do notanticipateadvancingwithinthe
company.Of course,these are imperfect
measuresof FILMs, and our
findings
mustbe judged accordingly.
Our indicatorofa person'snonworklifefocuseson thefamilyrole.
We measurethe respondent'sfamilystatusby means of a dichotomous
variablereflecting
whetherhe/sheis (=1) or is not (=0) married.Being
marriedmay place constraints
(perhapsespeciallyforwomen)and provideopportunities
(perhapsespeciallyformen)on howcommitted
people
can be to workand whattheyare able to valuein theirjobs.
Our regression
equationsalso includecontrolsfora person'seducationalleveland rankor authority
position.Educationis closelyassociated
withage, since morerecentbirthcohortsare moreeducatedthan their
elders(Riley,Johnson& Foner1972).In addition,educationis one ofthe
majormechanisms
bywhichpeople are sortedintooccupationsand organizations.Similarly,
job rewardsare distributed
differentially
on thebasis
ofrankwithinorganizations.
Our measuresof workcommitment
and workvalues (see Tables1
and 2) have been used oftenin previousstudiesof theseconcepts.The
workcommitment
itemsare adaptationsof selectedquestionsfromLodahl and Kejner'swidelyused job involvementscale. The workvalue
itemsare takenfromtheQualityofEmployment
Survey(Quinn & Shepard 1974).Theseitemsweretranslated
intoJapanesebybilingualmembers
ofourresearchteam.Repeatedtranslations
fromEnglishto Japaneseand
back again give us confidencethatthese questionsare tappingsimilar
conceptsin the two countries.Furtherevidenceforthe validityof these
itemsis providedbytheanalysesreportedin Lincolnand Kalleberg(1989,
chaps.3 and 5).
Workin U.S. and Japan/345
Results
Tables1 and 2 presentthe means and standarddeviationsof the work
commitment
and workvalueitemsfortheoverallsamplesand foreach of
sixage groupsin theU.S. and Japan:comparisonsformalesare shownin
Table1 and thoseforfemalesare shownin Table2.
Forworkcommitment,
theseresultsindicatethatboththeJapanese
menand womenare morelikelythantheirAmericancounterparts
to say
thatthe mostimportant
thingsthathappen to theminvolvetheirwork
ratherthantheirfamily.
The Japanesemen are also morelikelythanU.S.
men to feelthatworkis a "largepartofwho theyare,"althoughthereis
no difference
amongwomen.
Overall,we findthatolder manufacturing
employeestend to be
morecommitted
to workthantheiryoungercounterparts.
AmongAmerican men and women,employeesfromtheolderage groupsfairly
consistentlyplace morevalue on workrelativeto familythando youngerworkers. In contrast,
Japanesemen in the41-50age groupvalue workhighly
relativeto family,
whilethosein theotherage groupshave weakercommitment
to work.The youngestand theoldestJapanesewomenplace the
greatestemphasison workas opposed to family,
althoughthedifferences
are notpronounced.These findingsmayreflect
cross-cultural
differences
in the relationship
betweenworkand familyover the lifecourse. It is
plausiblethatamongJapanesemen the normof strongcommitment
to
workforthegood ofthefamilyis relaxedonce childrenare on theirown.
Thus,itmaybe thattheoldestJapanesemenare freerto committo family
when its needs are not so pressing.In the U.S. whereworkand family
competemoreactivelyforan employee'scommitment
(Schein1983),the
toworkis stronger
pull awayfromcommitment
amongyoungerworkers,
whose familyrelationships
are probablymoreabsorbing.It appears that
workand familyremainsomewhatmore separateforJapanesewomen
thanforJapanesemen,suchthatwomenwho are at lifestageswherethey
are likelyto have no childrenor grownchildrenplace thegreatestemphasis on workas comparedto family.
Turningto our measuresof specificworkvalues,we notethatthe
Americanmen and womenattachmoresignificance
to each job reward
The age differences
in workvaluesin
thando theirJapanesecounterparts.
each country
aremorerevealing.Forexample,whileAmericansofall ages
on havinga stablejob, olderJapaneseemployees
place similarimportance
value job stabilitymore highlythan theiryoungercounterparts.This
probablyresultsfromthegreatercostsofjob changingin Japan,whichis
regardedas a very"uncertain
venturefilledwithmanypitfalls,"
especially
among olderemployees(Cole 1971,p. 129). It mayalso reflectthe purporteddesireon thepartofmanyyoungerJapaneseto betterthemselves,
346/Social ForcesVolume67:2,December1988
Table1. MEANS(STANDARD
DEVIATIONS)
OF WORKCOMMITMENTAND
WORKVALUEITEMSFOR
EMPLOYEES
ANDJAPAN
6 AGEGROUPSOF MALEMANUFACTURING
FROMTHEUNITEDSTATES
AmericanAge Groups
Under
21
21-30 31-40 41 50 51-60 61+
Overal 1
Mean
WorkCommitment
Items*
To me, mywork is only a small
part of who I am (reverse
coded)
2.26
(.98)
2.46
(1.16)
2.52
(1.14)
2.73
(1.12)
2.81
(1.13)
2.99
(1.00)
2.60
(1.15)
The most important things that
happen to me involve myfamily rather than mywork
(reverse code)
2.09
(1.02)
1.91
(.90)
2.01
(.95)
2.14
(.95)
2,33
(.99)
2.55
(.95)
2.07
(.96)
The importanceof getting
along with coworkers
2.72
(.55)
2.64
(.64)
2.68
(.59)
2.72
(.55)
2.76
(.51)
2.76
(.48)
2.69
(.59)
The importanceof good
pay
2.88
(.32)
2.79
(.47)
2..80
(.45)
2.78
(.49)
2.76
(.49)
2.70
(.48)
2.78
(.48)
The importanceof a stable job
without fear of layoffs
2.88
(.32)
2.83
(.50)
2.85
(.45)
2.79
(.48)
2.80
(.48)
2.76
(.48)
2.82
(.48)
WorkValue Items**
Likert items with forced choice categories: strongly agree (5), agree (4),
neither agree nor disagree (3) disagree (2), strongly disagree (1).
The items read: Whenit comes to their jobs, different things are importantto
different people. How importantto you is each of the following? Choices were:
very important (3), somewhatimportant (2), a little important (1), not at all
important (0).
even ifitmeanschangingto anothercompany(Levine1981).In addition,
thereareno age differences
amongtheAmericansin thevaluationofgood
pay,thoughtheyoungerJapaneseworkersplace moreimportance
on pay
thantheirelders.Thismaybe due eitherto greatercareerpressureamong
the youngJapanesethanamongtheiroldercounterparts
or to a cultural
shifttowarda greateremphasison pay.Wewillexplorefurther
thesepossibilities
in our subsequentregressionanalyses.
Age patternsin the importanceof gettingalong withco-workers
differ
in the two countries:youngerJapaneseemployeesplace moreimportanceon social relationsat the workplacethando older ones, while
U.S. employeesover40 are slightly
morelikelyto valuethisthanthosein
their20s and 30s. We speculatethatthismaybe due to differences
in the
functions
of co-workers
in thetwocountries.In theU.S., co-workers
are
seen as potentialfriendsand olderworkersmaybe moredepentypically
dentthanyoungerones on socialrelationships
formedat theworkplace.
In Japan,on theotherhand,gettingalongwithco-workers
is essentialfor
careeradvancementin the firm,so the youngerworkersare moreconcernedthatthese relationsbe smoothones. Finally,olderemployeesin
each countryplace less importancethanyoungerones on havinggood
Workin U.S. and Japan/347
Table1. (continued)
Japanese Age Groups
Under
21
21-30 31^4o
41-50 51-60 61+
Overa 1l
Mean
2.61
(1.12)
2.64
(1.16)
3.01
(1.19)
3.19
(1.30)
3.24
(1.35)
3.25
(1.75)
2.95
(1.24)
2.61
(.95)
2.66
(.92)
2.93
(.97)
3.09
(1.o0)
2.92
(1.06)
2.71
(.76)
2.88
(.99)
2.59
(.69)
2.28
(.75)
2.08
(.77)
2.05
(.79)
2.11
(.81)
2.00
(.93)
2.15
(.78)
2.52
(.72)
2.45
(.75)
2.39
(.75)
2.18
(.83)
2.03
(.96)
2.14
(.69)
2.33
(.79)
2.05
(.83)
2.19
(.79)
2.28
(.80)
2.30
(.80)
2.33
(.82)
2.50
(.54)
2.25
(.80)
chancesforpromotion(resultsnot shown).Promotionprobablyhas less
becausetheyhaveless timeleftin
valueto olderworkersin bothcountries
whichto enjoytheadvantagesthata promotion
brings.
Weconsidernexttheresultsofregression
analysesaimedat explorin workcommitment
and
ingsomeofthereasonsfortheseage differences
workvalues.Theseresultsarepresentedin Tables3 (men)and 4 (women).
in thefirstrowofthetablesrepresentthezero-order
corThe coefficients
relationsofage withthedependentvariables,and thosein thesecondrow
in an age coefficient
berepresentthe directage effects.The difference
tweenthe firstand second rowsrepresentsthe amountthatis mediated
and nonwork(marital
by the work(tenureand promotionexpectations)
status)variablesas wellas thecontrols(educationand rank).2
In each country,older men tend to place greatervalue than do
youngermen on workas opposed to familyand to say thatworkis a
ofworkto
Age differences
in theimportance
largerpartoftheiridentity.
are greaterforJapanesemen thanAmericanmen (firstrow),
theidentity
in workand
and over halfof thisassociationis mediatedby differences
nonworksocialroles(comparerows1 and 2). The majorreasonwhywork
of olderthanof youngerJapanesemen is
is a biggerpartof the identity
348/Social ForcesVolume67:2,December1988
WORKVALUE
ITEMSFOR
OF WORKCOMMITMENTAND
DEVIATIONS)
Table2. MEANS(STANDARD
ANDJAPAN
EMPLOYEES
FROMTHEUNITEDSTATES
MANUFACTURING
6 AGEGROUPSOF FEMALE
AmericanAge Groups
Under
21
21-30 31-40 41-50
51-60 61+
Overall
Mean
Items*
WorkCommitment
To me, mywork is only a small
part of who I am (reverse
coded)
2.54
(1.33)
2.55
(1.13
2.60
(1.19)
2.67
(1.13)
2.82
(1.13)
2.67
(1.10)
2.64
(1.16)
The most importantthings that
happen to me involve myfamily rather than mywork
(reverse code)
1.92
(1.12)
2.01
(.96)
2.09
(1.02)
2.27
(1.04)
2.53
(1.06)
2.36
(.99)
2.20
(1.04)
The importanceof getting
along with coworkers
2.86
(.36)
2.70
(.58)
2.76
(.51)
2.86
(.38)
2.86
(.42)
2.72
(.66)
The importanceof good
pay
2.86
(.36)
2.84
(.43)
2.86
(.38)
2.90
(.34)
2.87
(.35)
2.89
(.32)
2.68
(.51)
2.86
(.39)
The importanceof a stable Job
without fear of layoffs
2.93
(.27)
2.85
(.44)
2.92
(.30)
2.94
(.25)
2.93
(.28)
2.74
(.66)
2.90
(.36)
WorkValue Items**
*
See Table 1.
*See Tabl1e 1.
thatolderemployeeshave longertenuresin theircompanies(i.e., tenure
mediatesmostof thetotalage effect).Aftercontrolling
forsampledifferences in theireducation,authority
rank,companytenure,promotionexin bothindicapectations,and maritalstatus,we findthatage differences
torsofworkcommitment
aregreateramongmenin theU.S. thaninJapan
(secondrow).
In contrastto theresultsformen,we findthatwhileolderwomen
in the U.S. are morecommitted
to workthanyoungerwomen,age does
notaffect
workcommitment
amongJapanesewomen.The overallage patternsdiffer
significantly
betweencountriesonlyfortheitemthatevaluates
the salienceof workin comparisonwithfamilyroles,but thisis a key
comparison.Amongolderwomen,thefamily
diminishesin importance
as
and theprimary
arenawithin
workbecomesthemajorsourceofidentity
whichsignificant
eventstakeplace. The Japanesewomenin thissample
arequiteyoung-an averageage of30 yearscomparedto 39 fortheAmeriin the
can sample-and thusthereare unlikelyto be markeddifferences
family
responsibilities
ofolderand youngerJapanesewomen.Moreover,if
the majorityof thesewomen are temporary
employees,whichis likely,
thenit would be difficult
forthemto identify
themselveson thebasis of
theirworkrole,regardlessofage.
We observedin Tables1 and 2 thatthereare severalkeydifferences
Workin U.S. and Japan/349
Table2. (continued)
Japanese Age Groups
Under
21
21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61+
Overall
Mean
2.44
(1.02)
2.56
(1.04)
2.76
(1.18)
2.65
(1.35)
2.69
(1.49)
--
2.67
(.95)
2.58
(.83)
2.68
(1.06)
2.63
(1.21)
2.78
(.81)
--
2.63
(.97)
2.57
(.63)
2.56
(.64)
2.33
(.73)
2.37
(.80)
2.22
(.77)
2.16
(.98)
2.15
(.89)
2.06
(.94)
2.00
(.96)
1.93
(1.07)
--
2.31
(.77)
2.31
(.86)
1.98
(.77)
2.01
(.81)
2.10
(.88)
2.18
(.87)
2.25
((.87)
--
-----
--
2.59
(1.14)
2.06
(.83)
in the importanceplaced on specificjob rewardsbetweenJapaneseand
in the
Americanemployees.Tables3 and 4 show thatage differences
valuationof good pay are more markedin Japan,with older Japanese
employeesvaluingpay less thanyoungerworkers.We findthese differences forbothmenand womenin Japan,yetthereare no age differences
in theimportanceaccordedto pay foreithergenderin the U.S. The age
differences
of culturalchangeratherthanof age
appear to be a function
normsembeddedin the Japaneseworksystem,since theyare not exrank.Thisdirect
or authority
opportunities,
plainedbytenure,promotion
effectof age is consistentwiththe view thattherehas been a shiftin
values,suchthatyoungercohortsofJapaneseemployees-womenas well
in personalmaterialgain and consumption
as men-are moreinterested
(e.g., Cole 1979a).
thantheiroldercounterparts
We foundearlierthatolderJapaneseemployeesvalue stablejobs
morethando youngerones. The resultsin Tables3 and 4 suggestthatthis
variables.On the one hand,
is due to nonworkas well as work-related
correlatedwithage in Japanthanin the
maritalstatusis morestrongly
influenceone's need forstableemployU.S., and familyresponsibilities
ment(especiallyamongmen). On the otherhand, midcareerchangeis
moredifficult
forbothmenand womenin Japaneseworksystems;evenif
one findsa new position,thereis stigmaattachedto changingcompanies
350/Social ForcesVolume67:2,December1988
Table 3.
UNSTANDARDIZED(STANDARDIZED)COEFFICIENTSOBTAINED FROM REGRESSIONOF
WORK COMMITMENT AND WORK VALUEITEMS ON AGE AND WORK AND NONWORK
DETERMINANTS:AMERICANAND JAPANESE
MEN
American Men
Work
ys.
Family
Independent
Variables
Agea
.013**
(.159)
Age
.020**
(23)
- .095**
(-. 103)
.348*
(.146)
-.339**
(-.150)
- .009**
(-.095)
Education
Rank
(t=supervisor)
Married
(t=yes)
Company
tenure (yrs.)
Promotton
expected
(l=yes)
p<.05
Importance
of Getting
Along with
Cdworkers
Importance
of Job
Stability
.003*
(.049)
.o14**
(-.139)
-. 094**
(-.085)
.483**
(.169)
.062
(.023)
- .006*
(-.053)
-.001
(-.035)
-.020
(-.044)
-.098**
(-.081)
.047*
(.041)
-.001
(.013)
.003*
(.049)
- .045**
(-.079)
.010
(.007)
.060*
(.043)
.001
(.018)
.071**
(.062)
.114**
(.082)
.025*
(.043)
.040**
(,056)
.020
(.035)
.072
.051
.011
.012
.028
correlation
-.002*
(-.036)
-.002*
(-.057)
- .048^*
(-.104)
-. 123**
(-. 102)
.039*
(.034)
.002
(.042)
of age with the dependent variables.
bUnderlined age coefficients
at the .05 level.
*
.013** b
(. 129)
Importance
of Good
Pay
-.002*
(-.03-6)
R2 (adjusted)
aZero-order
Importance
of Work to
Identity
are significantly
different between samples
**6
p<.0l
thatlate in life (Woronoff
1981). The age normssurrounding
interfirm
mobility
are notas rigidin theUnitedStates,wherecompaniesare more
likelyto acceptmidcareerentrantsand olderemployeesare believedto
have as muchrightas youngerones to searchfora betteropportunity.
Finally,the positivecorrelation
of age and the valuationof good
relationswithco-workersamong the Americanemployeesis not completelyexplainedbytheworkand nonworkvariables.The age differences
amongtheJapanese,whichindicatethatolderJapanesemenand women
place less value on such relationsthando youngerJapaneseemployees,
arealso notcompletely
mediated.Sinceseniority
is controlled,
onlya portionof theseeffectsis due to the careerpressuresof new recruits.The
remaining
Japaneseage differences
are probablyat least partially
due to
thefactthatevenworkgroupsare arrangedaccordingto an age hierarchy,
whichis consistent
withthetendencyoftheJapaneseto acceptauthority
mosteasilyfromoldermen (Rohlen1974).This could lead to thegreater
Workin U.S. and Japan/ 351
Table 3. (continued)
Japanese Men
Work
VS.
Family
.016**
Importance
of Work to
Identity
.019**
(.159)
f.1 c6T
(W.fzjD)
.o14**
(.136)
.081**
.009o*
(.076)
.003
(.083)
.112**
(.080)
-.149**
(-.068)
.015**
(.003)
.069*
(.043)
.040
(.016)
?017**
(.121)
(.122)
.199**
(.090)
.061
.199**
(.078)
.044
Importance
of Good
Pay
Importance
of Getting
Along with
Coworkers
-.013**
-.012**
.014**
(-. 174)
.005
-.009**
(-.120)
- .049**
)
(.006)
.024
(.022)
.134**
(.078)
-.004
(-.044)
.105**
(.061)
.033
(-.065)
-.024
(- .022)
.036
Importance
of Job
Stability
.005**
(.066)
-.002
(-.028)
- .029*
(-.038)
.023
(.020)
.179**
(.021)
(.102)
(-.073)
(.034)
-.008
(-.005)
.027
.040
(.034)
.013
-.007**
.003
some ofwhom
concernamongtheyoungwithpleasingtheirco-workers,
maybe theirsupervisors.
Conclusions
age differences
in themeaningofwork
In thispaper,we haveinvestigated
in theUnitedStatesand Japan.We foundthatoldermen are morecommittedto workthanyoungermen in bothJapanand the U.S. We also
observedthispatternamongAmericanwomen,thoughtherewereno age
in workcommitment
differences
amongJapanesewomen.These age patof work
ternsgenerallyremaineven afterwe controlforcharacteristics
and nonworksocialroles.
Nevertheless,we were able to accountforabout halfof the age
itemforJapanese
in the "importance
ofworkto theidentity"
differences
352 /Social ForcesVolume67:2,December1988
Table4. UNSTANDARDIZED
(STANDARDIZED)
COEFFICIENTS
OBTAINED
FROMREGRESSION
OF
WORKCOMMITMENTAND
WORKVALUEITEMSON AGEANDWORKANDNONWORK
DETERMINANTS:
AMERICAN
ANDJAPANESE
WOMEN
American Women
Work
Independent
Variables
vS.
Family
.015** b
(. 16-1)
Agea
Age
Education
Rank
(l=supervisor)
Married
(l=yes)
Company
tenure (yes.)
Promotion
expected
(l=yes)
R2 (adjusted)
aZero-order
p<.05
Importance
of Good
Pay
Importance
of Getting
Along with
Coworkers
Importance
of Job
Stability
.005*
(.098)
.001
(.033)
.007*
(.064)
.001
(.019)
.017**
(.180)
-.082*
(-.069)
.247*
(.056)
- .293**
(-.140)
-.001
(-.oo8)
.007*
(.072)
-.091*
(-.o68)
.435**
(-.088)
-.o84
(-.036)
- .001
(-.010)
.001
(.023)
- .030*
(-.066)
-. 161'*
(- *095)
-.037
(-.047
- .000
(-.009)
-.055*
(-.092)
- .013
(- .005)
.041
(.039)
- .005**
(-.094)
.148**
(.097)
.136**
(.079)
.027
(.o46)
.053*
(.069)
.013
(.024)
.014
.022
.010
.016
.055
correlation
**
.00 7**
(T7i9)
001
(.019)
-.028*
(-.067)
- . 134**
(- .086)
-.011
(-.015)
.000
(.007)
of age with the dependent variables.
bUnderlined age coefficients
at the .05 level.
*
Importance
of Work to
Identity
are significantly
different between samples
p<.0l
men on the basis of the greaterseniority-andthusthe morehighlyrewardedjobs-enjoyed by olderemployees.Furthermore,
when age is removedfromtheequation,thereis a significantly
greaterpositiveeffect
of
tenureon bothcommitment
itemsamongtheJapanesemen thanamong
the Americans.The oft-discussed
Japaneseworksystemof firminternal
labormarketsappears to have littleimpacton the commitment
levelsof
Japanesewomen:therewereno age differences
in commitment,
nor did
anyoftheworkvariableshave an influenceon anyofourindicesofwork
commitment.
in theimportance
Age differences
placed on good pay weregenerallymoremarkedin theJapanesesample.This findingis consistent
with
theargument
thattherehas beengreaterculturalchangein workvaluesin
Japanthanin the U.S. WhileAmericanswho weresocializedduringdifferenthistoricaltimeperiodsall highlyvalue the economicfunctionof
work,good pay is emphasizedmostbytheyoungeremployeesin Japan.If
Workin U.S. and Japan/353
Table4. (continued)
Japanese Women
Work
Vs.
Family
.001
(.007)
.005
Importance
Importance Importance of Getting Importance
of Workto of Good
Along with
of Job
Identity
Pay
Coworkers Stability
.oo6
(.062)
.002
(.057)
-.039
(-.024)
-.120
(-.073)
-.289**
(-.146)
.013
(.070)
(.016)
-.043
(-.024)
-.109
(-.o0P)
-.039
(-.018)
.015
(.076)
.011
(.047)
.010
-.396
(-.060)
.005
-.017**
(- 213)
-
.016**
(-.2-.011
(.008)
.079
(.056)
.066
(.039)
-.008
(-.052)
.229
(.045)
o043
- .016**
(-.178)
- .010*
.007*
(.096)
.000
(-.44)
-.082
(-.065)
.132**
(.104)
-.022
(-.014)
-.007
(-.047)
(-.003)
.015
(.011)
.015
(.01 1)
.166
(.102)
.007
(.049)
.017
(.004)
.030
-.152
(-.031)
.007
Japaneseemployee
this trendcontinues,the frugaland self-sacrificing
severeconsequencesfortheJapamaydisappearentirely,
withpotentially
nese economy(Cole 1979a).Moreover,we foundtheage patternsforJapanese women to be similarto those forJapanesemen, suggestingthat
wherea culturalshifthas occurredthenew messagesare beinginternalized byworkingwomenas wellas men.
in these workvalues could also result
Of course,age differences
fromtheprocessof agingitself:cross-sectional
researchon age is always
plagued by the factthat,on the surfaceanyway,cohortand lifecycle
are equallyplausible(Riley1973).We
interpretations
of directage effects
leftunexplainedbytheother
are also unableto knowwhetherdifferences
variablesin our equationsresultfromculturalchangesor simplyreflect
in worksituationsornonworksocialroles.Still,a
unmeasureddifferences
cohortinterpretation
seems appropriatein thiscase forseveralreasons.
First,thesame age patternshold forJapanesewomenand Japanesemen,
354 /Social ForcesVolume67:2,December1988
even thoughthe Japanesewomenare youngerthantheirmale counterparts(an averageage of30 as comparedto 36). IftheolderJapanesehave
cometo place less importance
on payas a function
oftheprocessofaging,
we would not expectto see such similarpatternsin these two groups.
Second,theoriesofdevelopmental
agingsuggestthatthereis a universal
processwhichunderliesmovementthroughthe lifecycle(Erikson1959;
Levinsonet al. 1978).Thus,differences
thatare due to movement
through
thelifecycleshouldsurfacein bothcountries.Finally,thereappearsto be
on Japanfortheviewthatthevalueof
no supportin theexistingliterature
pay diminishesas employeesage.
Our conclusionsmustalso be evaluatedin lightofthelocal nature
of our samples. Indeed, any comparativestudywhichis not based on
nationalsamplesis vulnerableto the chargethatthe regionssurveyed
maynot be comparableto each other,nor representative
of theirrespective nations.Nevertheless,the regionsstudied-South CentralIndiana
(chieflythe IndianapolisMetropolitan
Area) and the AtsugiRegionof
in Japan-are in factquitesimilar.The two regions
KanagawaPrefecture
are comparablewithrespectto characteristics
such as level of urbanizato majormetropolitan
areas (e.g., Chicagoand Tokyo),and
tion,proximity
industry
composition.
Moreover,theindustry
compositions
ofbothSouth
CentralIndianaand theAtsugiRegionare representative
ofthecompositionoftheirrespectivecountries(cf.Lincoln& Kalleberg1985,1989).
We conclude,then,thatJapaneseworksystemsenhancecommitmentto workthroughthecarefulstructuring
ofan age-basedrewardand
promotionsystem.In addition,we tentatively
proposethatyoungJapawithWestern
nese employees-malesand femalesalike-are converging
valueson at leastone dimension:theirgreateremphasison theeconomic
function
ofwork.
Notes
definitions
1. Ouremphasisis on paidwork,
althoughwe recognizethatmorecomprehensive
activities
and child
community
includea variety
ofworkformssuchas unpaidhousework,
care(Feldberg
& Glenn1979).
ofmeansindicatethat
2. Weestimated
twoothermodelsas well.First,becausethepatterns
thereare curvilinear
relationsbetweenage and someofthedependentvariables,we examIn no case was a
inedpolynomial
regression
equationsformenand womenin eachcountry.
cubedtermsignificant
(cf.Kalleberg& Loscocco1983).In a fewinstancesa squaredtermwas
alterourresults.Thusfor
significant,
yettheadditionofa squaredtermdid notsubstantially
and interpretation
we presenttheresultsofourmodelwhichused linear
ease ofpresentation
variableshelpedto explain
age terms.We also examinedtheextentto whichorganizational
and workvalues.By and large,theorganizational
theimpactof age on workcommitment
thatare ofcenvariablesdid notcontribute
muchto ourunderstanding
oftherelationships
tralconcernin thispaper.
Workin U.S. and Japan/355
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