Evaluating the Relationship between Value Orientation and Life Course

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down by age, the proportion of conformist and moderately conformist respondents increased across age groups as age increased while proportions of moderately nonconformist respondents increased across age groups as age decreased.

Though the data supports that all values included in the analysis are shifting over time, full regression models for general survey data for 1985 and 2015 did not find overall value orientation significant in predicting household type. The fact that the significance of value orientation in predicting household type disappears when including control variables suggests that other factors are driving household formation. The value shift shown in this analysis gives stronger evidence to SDT theory than theories of rigid family values, but evidence from this research’s regression analyses does not support that value shift has a connection to changes in demographic behavior.

6.1.2 Evaluating the Relationship between Value Orientation and Life Course Decisions based on Interviews with Taiwanese Women

This section uses interview findings to evaluate the first of the four research questions outlined in Chapter 3 for this research’s qualitative analysis. The first research question was directed toward discovering if interview data supports the conclusions drawn from the quantitative analysis of survey data discussed in the previous subsection and to determine other factors that also may influence life course decisions. The first research question asked if women’s values are related to their life course choices. In the interview, information was collected about life course decisions women made regarding education, work, marriage (or marriage plans), and children (or plans for children). In addition to asking about their personal life course decisions, women were also asked why they believed more and more Taiwanese women were remaining unmarried and childfree.

Women’s personal choices are discussed first, followed by their impressions on why other women are remaining unmarried or childfree.

Looking at personal life course choices for women in the interview sample, values did not appear to be related to the highest level of education reached except for the two women who had the strongest conformist values. Both of those women stopped their

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education after completing high school. Only one woman interrupted her education and discontinued her master’s degree due to pregnancy. She had conformist family values.

For all other women, they sought out high education levels regardless of which value orientation they had. The youngest woman with conformist values even said she explicitly went against her family’s wishes in pursuing a master’s degree because she believed education was important.

For work decisions, the decision to work prior to marriage was universal and did not depend on value orientation. Most women also said meaning or potential for growth in a position was important, regardless of value orientation. Nonconformist women emphasized meaning or growth the most, and some nonconformist women reported changing jobs more frequently in search of job satisfaction. Most women with children interrupted their careers after having children, again regardless of values. Afterward, some returned to work and some did not. Women’s choice to return to work did not appear to be related to values either, but rather income. The woman with children with the lowest income only took a break for two or three years, women with incomes of around 60,000-80,000 NTD per month took breaks of at least ten years, and one woman with a high income of at least 100,000 NTD per month did not take a break from work because she could afford to hire a full time nanny.¹⁴

For family, the decision or desire to get married and have children was universal across the value orientations with one exception. Women with conflicting values either would only get married if they found the right partner or completely rejected marriage.

Both of the women with conflicting values rejected having children. For these two women, their values had a strong impact on their decision but for other women the connection was not as strong. All women over age 40 were married regardless of value orientation and most had children. The two married women who did not have children

14 The woman with lowest salary did not report her income. Her estimated income was based on her job position. One of the women with average income still had a young child but she was uncertain if she would return to work and intended to wait until her daughter was older. Another woman with average income never returned to paid work but did volunteer after her children had grown up. One of the women with higher salary did not report taking a break from work but she did not explain her childcare solution.

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were both conformist, dated more people overall than the other married women, and took longer to find their spouse, which likely contributed to remaining childfree.

For unmarried women, those with conformist overall values or conformist family values were all in relationships and had a higher number of overall relationships. Even though most unmarried women said they hoped to get married and have children, women who were more conformist were more actively pursuing relationships. Most of the nonconformist women were focused on career satisfaction rather than pursuing

relationships. For younger unmarried women who did not have conflicting values, value orientation did not influence the desire to eventually get married and have children, but it did influence whether they prioritized career over relationships. Women who were more conformist or conformist for family values focused on their careers initially, and then changed to focusing on relationships at some point in their thirties, with the ultimate goal of starting a family.

Looking at women’s impressions on why increasing numbers of women in Taiwanese society are remaining single and childfree, most women thought it was a combination of circumstance and choice. The most common answer was a woman’s economic situation, which is a matter of circumstance that a woman cannot completely control. The second two most common answers, desire for a free independent life and avoiding family obligations, are deliberate choices. Another reason that women

suggested was focusing on career over marriage. This is certainly a choice on a woman’s part, but one she may not have intended to result in never marrying. Women in this situation may have hoped to marry but later realize they waited too long and could not find a partner. Other reasons women gave were difficulty meeting potential partners, difficulty finding the right partner, being too well educated, and age. All of these factors can potentially be side effects of women focusing on their education and career. From women’s responses, it is clear that there is a distinction between making a deliberate choice to be single and childfree and remaining single and childfree as a side effect of prioritizing other things. A third reason may be that women feel they do not have the option to marry or have children due to circumstances outside of their control.

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