Chinese Journal of Sociology ›› 2010, Vol. 30 ›› Issue (4): 118-142.

• Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

On Family, Work, Money, and Morals: Intergenerational Value Differences in China

*Author 1: Christopher Swader, Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences (BIGSSS),University of Bremen, Germany.; Author 2: Yuan Hao, Department of Sociology, Sociological Institute of National Key Discipline and the Center for Chinese Social Organization Studies, Shanghai University, China.   

  1. *Author 1: Christopher Swader, Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences (BIGSSS), University of Bremen, Germany. Email: cswader@bigsssbremen.de; Author 2: Yuan Hao, Department of Sociology, Sociological Institute of National Key Discipline and the Center for Chinese Social Organization Studies, Shanghai University, China.
  • Online:2010-07-20 Published:2010-07-20
  • Contact: Christopher Swader, Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences (BIGSSS), University of Bremen, Germany. E-mail:cswader@bigsssbremen.de
  • About author:*Author 1: Christopher Swader, Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences (BIGSSS),University of Bremen, Germany.; Author 2: Yuan Hao, Department of Sociology, Sociological Institute of National Key Discipline and the Center for Chinese Social Organization Studies, Shanghai University, China.
  • Supported by:

    ** This study is partly supported by Chinese National Social Science Fund (09CSH019).

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Abstract:

In which ways has China's rapid social change crystallized into differences between its

generations' values? The significance of intergenerational value gaps in work, family, materialism,

and individualism is reported based on a mixedmethods (qualitative and quantitative) approach. The

results of quantitative analysis of the 4th wave (2000) of World Values Survey data in China

were compared with the 〖JP2〗outcomes of the qualitative semistructured interviews with middle

aged businessmen and their fathers conducted in Shanghai in late 2005 to see if there were

intergenerational breaks or continuities in values. It was found that the middleaged cohort,

compared with the older cohort, was less thriftfocused, more materialistic, more individualistic,

and less mindful of the parental duty of norm transmission. However, both the middleaged and older

cohorts valued hard work to an equal extent.

Key words: intergenerational differences  , morals  , social value