東西方之千禧世代：社會價值, 個人態度與行為之比較 - 政大學術集成

全文

(1)國立政治大學亞太研究英語碩士學位學程 International Master’s Program in Asia Pacific Studies College of Social Science National Chengchi University. 立. 碩士論文治 Thesis 政 Master’s 大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. Nat. y. 東西方之千禧世代：社會價值, 個人態度與行為之比較. er. io. sit. Millennials in the East and the West:. n. A Comparative Study of Social a v Values and. i l C n h e n g c hAttitudes i U Individual. Student: Renée Libertad Chow Advisor: Professor Ping Yin Kuan, Ph.D. 中華民國 106 年 6 月.

(2) 東西方之千禧世代：社會價值, 個人態度與行為之比較. Millennials in the East and the West: A Comparative Study of Social Values and Individual Attitudes 研究生：周睿玲指導教授：關秉寅. 治政國立政治大學大. 立. ‧ 國. 學. 亞太研究英語碩士學位學程. ‧. 碩士論文. n. A Thesis. C. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. i n U. v. h e n g c h iMaster’s Program in Submitted to International Asia Pacific Studies National Chengchi University. 中華民國 106 年 6 月.

(3) Acknowledgments I would like to pay special gratitude and sincere appreciation to the persons below who made my research possible and supported me at every stage to successfully achieve my goal: My advisor, Professor Ping Yin Kuan, for his vital support and supervision. His insights at every point during my research made it possible to achieve the goal. My committee members, professor Janet Kuo and professor Mei Chuan Wei, for allocating some time to assist me on my thesis defense and showing concern about the progress of my work.. 立. 政治大. My mom Marlen, who has instilled in me discipline and passion for work, values. ‧ 國. 學. without which this research would not have been possible.. ‧. My brother Javier, for always being loving and for his support at every step of my. sit. y. Nat. research.. al. er. io. My friends, for being always encouraging. For adding colors, music, and laughs to my. n. life making this endeavor more pleasant.. Ch. engchi. i. i n U. v.

(4) Abstract This research compares socials values and attitudes of individuals born in East Asian and Western societies after 1980 to 1997. The aforementioned time frame encompasses a generation that has been labeled Millennial, for it accounts for individuals who came of age in the beginning of the new millennium. It is considered the biggest and best educated generation in history and is the leader of the tomorrow’s economy; hence, it has become an increasingly important topic for research and discussion in order to understand its particular characteristics. This research study differentiates itself from those existent, in that it focuses on comparing Millennials from different geographic. 政治大. origins and cultural zones —East Asian and Western countries. It identifies and analyzes the effect of educational attainment on individuals’ attitudes toward the self. 立. and their role in society considering the particular features of their geographic zones of. ‧ 國. 學. origin. The study shed light on the effect of education and origin on Millennials’ attitudes toward issues of social interest such as: abortion, homosexuality, divorce, sex. ‧. before marriage and women emancipation; having East Asians, a more conservative approach than Westerns have. Furthermore, contrary to what it was expected, it was. sit. y. Nat. observed higher levels of self-centered attitude among East Asians when compared to. io. n. al. er. their counterpart in the West.. i n U. v. Keywords: Millennial Generation, Cross-Cultural studies, East versus West.. Ch. engchi. ii.

(5) TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements …………………...............................................................i Abstract ……………………………………………………………….…...... ii Preface ……………………………………………………………………… vi 1.. Introduction .............................................................................................. 1. 2.. Literature Review .................................................................................... 3 Modernization as a Process of Human Development............................. 3. 2.2. Values, Attitudes and Behaviors .............................................................. 6. 2.3. Defining Generations ................................................................................ 9. 立. 政治大. Research Design ..................................................................................... 18. 學. ‧ 國. 3.. 2.1. Framework ............................................................................................... 19. 3.2. Research Question ................................................................................... 21. 3.3. Hypothesis ................................................................................................ 21. sit. y. Variables................................................................................................... 22. n. al. er. Research Method ..................................................................................... 23. io. 3.5. Nat. 3.4. ‧. 3.1. 4.. 5.. i n U. v. Findings................................................................................................... 27. Ch. engchi. 4.1. Demographics .......................................................................................... 27. 4.2. Factor Analysis Result for Each Outcome Variable ............................ 30. 4.3. Hypothesis Testing .................................................................................. 31. Discussion and Conclusion .................................................................... 40 5.1. Limitations ............................................................................................... 44. 5.2. Further Research ..................................................................................... 45. References ....................................................................................................... 48 Appendices ...................................................................................................... 51. iii.

(6) Appendix A: .......................................................................................................... 51 Appendix B: .......................................................................................................... 52 Appendix C: .......................................................................................................... 53 Appendix D: .......................................................................................................... 54. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. iv. i n U. v.

(7) LIST OF TABLES Table 2-1: Defining Generations ................................................................................. 11 Table 3-1: Unit of Analysis per Country ..................................................................... 18 Table 3-2: Sample Size ................................................................................................ 24 Table 4-1: Univariate Statistics for Demographics ...................................................... 29 Table 4-2: Logistic Regression Model on Family Dependence (n = 2,515)................ 32 Table 4-3: Multiple Regression Models on Position Towards Family and Elders (n = 2,140)............................................................................................................ 34 Table 4-4: Regression Model on Traditional Family Roles (n = 2,326)...................... 36 Table 4-5: Regression Model on Women’s Role in Society (n = 2,292)..................... 37 Table 4-6: Regression on Optimism (n = 2,488) ......................................................... 38. 政治大. Table 4-7 : Hypothesis testing summary ..................................................................... 39. 立. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. v. i n U. v.

(8) LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Distribution of the world population by age and sex, 2015 ......................... 13 Figure 2. Millennials from East Asian Countries, 2017 .............................................. 14 Figure 3. Millennials from Western Countries, 2017 .................................................. 14 Figure 4. Framework.................................................................................................... 20 Figure 5: Sample Distribution of East Asian countries ............................................... 28 Figure 6: Sample Distribution of Western Countries .................................................. 28. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. vi. i n U. v.

(9) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. 1. Introduction Millennial Generation accounts for the first generation to come of age in the new millennium, and is largely made up of the offspring of the Baby Boom Generation.. 政治大. This research has drawn on Pews Research Center’s (2014) generational dividing line; which defined the demography boundaries for the Millennial Generation starting from. 立. a first wave born from 1981 to 1989 and a second wave born from 1990 to 1997.. ‧ 國. 學. This generation came of age amid macroeconomic trends of depressed wages, globalization, and technological change of the past three decades. Since 2001 we seem. ‧. to have moved with effortless ease from one global crisis to the next: September 11 terrorist attack, debt, financial, Eurozone, Japanese Tsunami; Libyan and Syrian crisis. sit. y. Nat. (2011), and the consolidation of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) —designated a terrorist organization by the United Nations. Additionally, China slowdown, oil price. io. n. al. er. and Brexit. In a nutshell, Millennials have survived an eventful few decades.. i n U. v. Millennials make up the greatest share of the workforce and the largest. Ch. engchi. generation in history, so in many ways the situation facing young adults today forecasts the financial challenges ahead for the nation.. Thanks to 2008 economic crash. Millennials know how fleeting wealth can be, and their solution is to acquire not more but less. Millennial cohort are leaders of tomorrow’s economy; and yet, financially Millennials are worse off than the generation before. Entering the workforce during a recession puts young people behind from the start.. As a result, the Millennial. Generation has embraced its owns modes of entrepreneurship, they reject the presume security of the corporate job and riskily pursue their own ventures, even if it means tapping their parents’ bank account or working out of their parents’ basement.. 1.

(10) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. The development of the high speed internet connection along with the new digital infrastructure has endowed Millennials with a high sense of immediacy. Therefore, is an informed and wired generation that is used to getting almost everything with just a click. Millennial Generation is a linked generation with much more in common than dividing them, no other generation ever borrowed so much from so many cultures other than its own. Yet, it’s so difficult to deny that where you come from and where you were raised has a huge impact on one’s attitudes and on one’s appreciation of reality. The literature review presented bellow suggests that one must expect some As Hitlin and 政治大 Pavilian (2004) noted, the transmission of a value system from one generation to the 立 next happens through social institutions such as educational curricula and the family. differences among Millennials from different geographic origins.. ‧ 國. 學. Hence, people’s basic values reflect not only what they were taught but also the society’s cultural heritage where they belong.. ‧. Through the analysis of empirical evidence, this research study aims to answer to what extent, educational achievement affects differently East Asian and Western. Nat. sit. y. Millennials’ attitudes toward themselves and their role in society considering the. er. al. n. of origin.. io. cultural deep-rooted orientations characteristic from their particular geographic zones. Ch. i n U. v. In this vein, when comparing East Asian Millennials —which as a result of the. engchi. Confucian philosophy look at world and their community with a sense of “We”— with their counterpart from Western countries —which share more individualistic values— one most expect differences in aspects such as: family dependency, the perception of the self and the individual’s roles within the society.. 2.

(11) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. 2. Literature Review In order to better understand the context in which the Millennial Generation was born and developed, as well as to sustain the assumptions proposed in this paper; this. 政治大. literature review encompasses a selection of previous generational analysis, scholarly journals, human development and modernization theory; values, attitudes and. 立. behaviors theory; and cross-cultural values studies. Additionally, to obtain current data. ‧ 國. 學. about the dimension of the Millennial Generation, it includes a revision of the Global Population Prospect by the United Nations and U.S. Census Bureau International Data. ‧. Base.. The first section of this literature review discusses modernization and. sit. y. Nat. globalization as triggers of social change; likewise, it introduces education as a result of socioeconomic development. Section 2.2 tackles the theory of values; not only to. io. n. al. er. establish the links between values, attitudes and behaviors, but also to explain how. i n U. v. education and geographic origin can be used to explain one’s values. Ultimately, it. Ch. engchi. concludes with a revision of generational analysis theories, and further discusses the specific features of the Millennial Generation.. 2.1 Modernization as a Process of Human Development Modernization is a term used to describe the transition from agrarian to industrial society, and the subsequent shift from industrial to postindustrial society. The classic theories of modernization developed by Max Weber (1864-1920) had the central insight on socioeconomic development (Waters, T. & Waters, D., 2015; Weber, 1999). Likewise, Inglehart and Welzel (2001) agree with this insight on socioeconomic development; nonetheless, they interpret contemporary social change as a process of human development. 3.

(12) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. Their work included survey data from eighty-one societies containing 85 percent of the world’s population collected from 1981 to 2001 and accounts for the largest investigations ever made of attitudes, values, and beliefs around the world. They argue that socioeconomic development not only brings rationalization, secularization, and bureaucratization; but also, the rise of the knowledge society. Human development goes hand-in-hand with increased levels of education. “A highly educated society brings another set of changes that move in a new direction, placing increasing emphasis on individual autonomy, self-expression, and free choice. Emerging self-expression values transform modernization into a process. 政治大 increasingly people-centered.” (Inglehart & Welzel, 2001, p. 5) 立 The shift from pre-industrialized to post-industrialized brought in its wake. of human development, giving rise to a new type of humanistic society that is. ‧ 國. 學. changes in cultural values in Western societies. Two major cultural changes linked to industrialization and post-industrialization, involving “materialist” values and “post-. ‧. materialist” values respectively (Inglehart R., 1977; Inglehart & Welzel, 2001). “Materialist” values are strongly linked with a society’s economic and physical security. Nat. sit. y. (such as maintaining order and fighting inflation), while “post-materialist” values (such have achieved a certain level of economic security.. n. al. Ch. e. i. er. io. as freedom, quality of life and self-expression) are strongly linked with societies who. i n U. v. h Cultural Identity n g cand 2.1.1 Modernization, Globalization Research by Inglehart and Welzel (2001) demonstrated that “while values can and do change, they continue to reflect a society's historical heritage. Cultural change is pathdependent” (p. 20). In their cross-cultural analysis, they found that when controlling for the effects of socioeconomic development on cultural change; the historical fact that a society was Protestant or Orthodox or Islamic or Confucian persist and manifests itself in coherent cultural zones with distinctive value systems.. 4.

(13) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. “Although socioeconomic development tends to produce systematic changes in what people believe and want out of life, the influence of cultural traditions does not disappear. Belief systems have a remarkable durability and resilience” (p. 20). Furthermore, modernization is often linked to Westernization. Hirai (1999) points out that in Japan as well as in other Asian countries modernization has often been confused with Westernization. This is because modernization, when it occurred in these countries, quite often meant accepting Western culture and resulted in great changes of everyday life. In this regard, Inglehart and Welzel (2001) argue that although the process of. 政治大 change. “The United States is not a model for cultural changes that are taking place, 立 and industrialized societies are not becoming like the United States, as a popular version industrialization began in the West, the United States is not leading the world in cultural. ‧ 國. 學. of modernization theory assumed” (p. 47).. According to Bellah (1999) "tradition" as a category of sociological analysis. ‧. has been used most frequently as a simple contrast term to "modernity". Traditionalism for Weber (1948) and for much in modern social science refers to a situation where one. Nat. sit. y. takes the past uncritically as a model for unimaginative imitation. Bellah (1999). er. io. remarks that "cultural identity" is a useful synonym for tradition, especially since "identity" —a term most often used in psychology— does not have the pejorative. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. implication in modern social science that tradition does. Ideally the relation between. engchi. tradition and modernization should be a dialectical and ultimately a harmonious one. Tradition seem to provide some of the moral stimulus to the amazingly successful economic modernization which has characterized Japan and the Asian rim for some time now (Bellah, 1999). The spirit of the people, their work ethic, their social discipline, their ability to cooperate, have been important in the stunning economic success of the region and all are more or less rooted in one or another aspect of the tradition. Globalization and the spread of connectivity does not mean that the world is getting homogenous, the historical cultural heritage of a society remains and accounts for the backbone of its cultural identity.. 5.

(14) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. “Despite widespread talk of the globalization of culture, the nation remains a key unit of shared experience, with its educational and cultural institutions shaping the values of almost everyone in that society. Even in the age of the internet, one's nationality remains a powerful predictor of one's values.” (Inglehart & Welzel, 2001, p. 69). Section 2.1 presented the effects of modernization and globalization on social and cultural change; section 2.2 focuses on the study of values. It determines how values, attitudes and behaviors are linked not only to one’s origin, but also to one’s education.. 2.2. 政治大 Values, Attitudes and Behaviors 立. ‧ 國. 學. The study of the human’s behavior is extremely contested in Social Science. Exist a broad discussion among scholars revolving the definitions of attitudes, values and. ‧. behaviors and how are they linked among each other.. Hitlin and Pilivian (2004) in their theory of values review point out that values. sit. y. Nat. are abstract ideas that delimit parameters for behaviors. Values are socially acceptable, and represent guiding mechanism that motivates social action. Furthermore, whereas. io. n. al. er. values are abstract ideas; attitudes —usually linked to one’s feelings, belief or. i n U. v. opinion— and behaviors —social action— are applied to more concrete social objects.. Ch. engchi. Yet, exist a general consensus about the link between values and attitudes which is mutability, values are more durable than attitudes. “Values occupy an important place within individuals’ social psychology and thus can help us understand links between antecedent social positions and the individual choices that serve to reproduce aspects of social structure” (p. 384). The development of values out of which attitudes are formed are the outcome of social traditions, customs learning and social institutions.. Intergenerational. transmission of a value systems happens through means such as family and educational curricula. The social psychological approach holds that positive attitudes manifest well-adjusted behaviors (Rosnow & Robinson, 1967).. 6.

(15) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. This research draws on the approach that structural and cultural shifts play out within an individual’s values system; hence, geographic origins or nations are used as a meaningful cultural unit for comparing values. Following the discussion on values, the next two sections examine independently how education and geographic origin can be used to explain one’s values.. 2.2.1 Education and values Economic growth brings in its wake rising levels of education and information, increasing people’s priority to act according to their choices.. 政治大. Millennials are the best educated generation in history; hence, building on work. 立. by Inglehart and Welzel (2001) once must expect that this cohort shares an increased. ‧ 國. 學. emphasis on individual autonomy, self-expression and free choice. That is to say, societies that share post-materialist values face less external constrains on human choice and an increased material cognitive and social resources.. ‧. According to the theory of values (Hitlin & Piliavin, 2004), the transmission of. y. Nat. a value system from one generation to the next happens through social institutions such. io. sit. as educational curricula and the family. Hence, people’s basic values reflect no only. n. al. er. what they were taught but also the society’s cultural heritage where they belong.. i n U. v. In this vein, this paper argues that where an individual comes from and got. Ch. engchi. educated are deep-rooted orientations among people accounting for the first and basic unit out of which values, attitudes and behaviors are formed. That said, the following section discusses a simplistic approach —focused mainly on one’s geographic origin— that has been argued by scholars (Hofstede, 1983; Nisbett, 2003; Yum, 1988) to identify values patterns characteristics of Eastern and Western societies.. 7.

(16) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. 2.2.2 Geographic origin and values Generally speaking —there are many exceptions— people in the West tend to be more individualist, and people from Asian countries like India, Japan or China tend to be more collectivist. Some of the most notable differences between Western and Eastern societies revolve around the concepts of “individualism” and “collectivism”. Western societies tend to value personal success over group achievement, which in turn is also associated with the need of greatest self-esteem and the pursuit of personal happiness. Hofstede (1983) on his research about cultural relativity holds out the importance of nationality in the process of shaping a common identity among. 政治大. individuals belonging to the same country or region. Furthermore, he established. 立. Individualism versus Collectivism as a “dimension to describe national cultures”. ‧ 國. 學. (p. 78). In individualistic societies, everybody is supposed to look after his or her own self-interest and maybe the interest of his or her immediate family; hence, in such societies ties between individuals are very loose. Building on this insight, people living. ‧. in individualist societies may also put more emphasis on personal success and freedom. y. Nat. (Hofstede, 1983; Nisbett, 2003).. io. sit. On the other hand, as a result of the Confucian philosophy, East Asian countries. n. al. er. like that of China, Japan, South Korea; look at the world and their community with a. i n U. v. sense of “We”, instead of “I”. Individuals roles thought up by Confucius are assigned. Ch. engchi. to each individual for the benefit of the family, consequently in such societies ties between individuals are highly tight.. The chief moral system of China —Confucianism— was essentially an elaboration of the obligations that obtained between emperor and subject, parent and child, husband and wife, older brother and younger brother, and between friend and friend. Carrying out prescribed roles —in an organized, hierarchical system— was the essence of Chinese daily life (Nisbett, 2003).. The family system encourages. dependence among people and institutions (without the negative Western connotations). Additionally, Guanxi is an important concept in Confucian societies to which Millennial Generation adheres, for it play a key role in business, consumption, leisure, and even in politics.. 8.

(17) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. Guanxi is a network of connections and relationships that help a person obtain items above and beyond the masses can. “Loosing face”, or loosing respect in another person’s eyes, is an important way to lose guanxi. Gaining face, or building one’s status, is important in building a guanxi network, and is done by gaining respect and having others indebted to you (Stanat, 2006). Section 2.2 reviewed the literature explaining connections between values, geographic origin and education, which has served as a solid ground to sustain the hypothesis posed in this research. Section 2.3 tackles generational analysis theories and further conclude the literature review describing the singular features of the Millennial Generation.. 立. 政治大. 2.3 Defining Generations. ‧ 國. 學. According to Howe and Strauss (2000) a generation can be defined as “a society-wide. ‧. peer group, born over a period roughly the same length as the passage from youth to adulthood, who collectively possess a common persona” (p. 40).. sit. y. Nat. A generational common persona has three attributes: perceived membership, common beliefs and behavior; and a common location in history. In this vein,. io. n. al. er. Mannheim (1952) points out that a generation is a “social phenomenon” in which. i n U. v. biological data constitute the most basic stratum of factors determining the generation phenomena.. Ch. engchi. Moreover, individuals belonging to the same generation must share a “common location” in the historical dimension of social progress, which in turn represents a kind of “identity of location”. This is to say, that age-related groups are considered to belong to the same generation in so far as they share the same intellectual, social and cultural trends that naturally arise from the process of human development. As Pilcher (1994) shows, “generation” is a temporal unit in history and it replaces “external units” of time such as decade, years and month.. 9.

(18) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. Generational analysis is the process that involves tracking age-related cohort of people on a range of issues, behaviors and characteristics. In order to conduct a generational analysis, one first must define the bounds of that generation. This is not an easy process since generational boundaries are flexible and they depend on its coming-of-age experiences and the impact of short-term forces throughout history (Mannheim, 1952; Pilcher, 1994; Howe and Strauss, 2000). In reviewing the generational analysis literature, one can evidence that the lines that define a generation differ among scholars and researchers; Howe and Strauss (2000), for example, hold out that the average length of a generation is around twenty or twenty-. 政治大 typically refers to groups of people born over a fifteen or twenty-year span. 立 Just as the limits that define generations are not standards among scholars,. one years; whereas the Pew Research Center (2015) considers that a generation. ‧ 國. 學. demographers and researchers; generation labels also have been through a longstanding discussion. Aware of this lack of solid consensus in locating a generation, to carry out. ‧. the subsequent comparative analysis, this research has drawn on Pews Research Center’s generational dividing line. Pews Research Center (2015) uses an approach. Nat. sit. y. based on Age-Period-Cohort analysis —which considers the three separate effects that. er. io. can produce differences in attitudes between age groups: life cycle effects (sometimes called age effects); period effects (lasting wars like WWI, the Great Depression), and. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. cohort effects (the change concentrated among a particular generation).. engchi. Consequently, according to Pew Research Center, generations have been defined chronologically as shown in Table 2-1:. 10.

(19) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. Table 2-1: Defining Generations Label. Demographic Boundaries Born before 1928. The Greatest Generation. Age in 2017: 90 - 100 Born: 1928 to 1945. The Silent Generation. Age in 2017: 72 to 89 Born: 1946 to 1964. The Baby Boom Generation. 政治 Born: 1965 大to 1980. 立. Age in 2017: 37 to 52. 學. ‧ 國. Generation X. Age in 2017: 53 to 71. Born: After 1980 to 1997. Older Millennials (b. 1981-1989). Age of adults in 2017: 20 to 36*. ‧. The Millennial Generation Younger Millennials (b. 1990-1997). Nat. their teens. No chronological end point has been set for this. n. al. er. io. sit. y. *The youngest Millennials are in. Ch. group.. engchi. i n U. v. Source: Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau population projections for 2015.. There is a vast intergenerational research and academic literature that describe the distinguishing traits of each of the aforementioned generations; for example, Howe and Strauss (2000); Greenberg and Weber (2008); Twenge (2006); Stanat (2006); and Pew Research Center (2015). This research is focused on the Millennial cohort, which are the last link in the generational chain.. 11.

(20) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. 2.3.1 Millennial Generation Many labels have been used by researchers, scholars, and demographers to represent those individuals born after 1980; mainly “Generation Me”, “Generation We”, “Generation Y”, and “Echo Boomers”. Millennial Generation accounts for the first generation to come of age in the new millennium, and is largely made up of the offspring of the Baby Boom generation. The demography boundaries defined by Pew Research Center establish a first wave of Millennials born from 1981 to 1989 and a second wave born from 1990 to 1997. Millennials are the best-educated generation in history, furthermore they. 政治大. experience a growing sense of urgency about what they have to do to achieve their. 立. personal and group goals. Howe and Strauss (2000) point out that this pressure explains. ‧ 國. please employers” (p. 184). technology.. 學. the “intensity of today’s competition to get good grades, to get into college, and to Past generations have provided Millennials with. Technology has allowed Millennials to learn differently from past. ‧. generations as Donohue (2012) mentioned, they crave for interactions and simulations. y. Nat. rather than the traditional lecture style of education. The fast internet connectivity gave. io. sit. shape to Millennial Generation’s sense of immediacy. With the development of. al. n. blogs.. er. internet and digital infrastructure, Millennials read and write texts, emails, tweets, and. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Global Millennials are the offspring of a world in which fertility rate have generally been on decline, especially in the developing world. Nonetheless, as one can see in Figure 1, the number of young people around the world who are currently under the age of 34 is still huge, close to the half of the world’s population. According to the World Population Prospects (United Nations, 2015), in 2015 the median age of the world’s population was 29.6 years.. 12.

(21) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. Figure 1. Distribution of the world population by age and sex, 2015. Nat. sit. y. Source: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. io. er. (2015). World Population Prospects: The 2015 Revision. New York: United Nations.. al. v i n Cand Millennials from China (26%) from the United States (23.4%) have surpassed h ethose ngchi U n. According to the international database released by the U.S. Census Bureau,. Baby Boomers as the nation’s largest living generation (See Figure 1 and 2).. 13.

(22) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. MILLENNIALS EAST ASIAN COUNTRIES 90% 80%. 8%. 5%. 70% 60%. 20%. 40%. 25%. 50% 30% 20% 10% 0%. 16%. 27%. 25%. 25%. 22%. 8%. 7%. 24%. 23%. 25%. 25%. 26%. 22%. 18%. 24%. 25%. China. Hong Kong. Japan. South Korea. Taiwan. 政治大. Millennials. 立. Gen X. Boomers. Silent. Great. Figure 2. Millennials from East Asian Countries, 2017. 學. ‧. io. 80% 70% 60%. y. al. Ch. Great. engchi. i n U. v. 22.6%. 20.7%. 22.2%. 26.9%. 22.2%. 20.3%. 20.0%. 19.9%. 23.4%. France. Germany. Spain. United States. 30% 10% 0%. Silent. 21.8%. 23.0%. 20%. Boomers. 25.7%. 50% 40%. Gen X. n. 90%. Millennials. sit. Nat. MILLENNIALS WESTERN COUNTRIES. er. ‧ 國. Source: Author tabulation of U.S. Census Bureau International Data Base (2016). Source: Author tabulation of U.S. Census Bureau International Data Base (2016). Figure 3. Millennials from Western Countries, 2017. 14.

(23) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. Millennial Generation shows a marked orientation toward the self. They were told by their parents that they could have everything in life, to follow their dreams and to pursue happiness above else. According to Twenge (2006) “since we were small children, we were taught to put ourselves first” (p. 49). Furthermore, Millennials have a determined believe that they are important, they take for granted that they should all feel good about themselves, that they are all special, and that they all deserve to follow their dreams. Millennials social trend could be resumed to do what makes you happy, and do not worry about what other people think. This trend is driven by individual social needs. 政治大 isolationist; instead is a way of moving through the world beholden to few social rules 立 and with the unshakable believe that you are important”.. and desires which according to Twenge (2006) “is not necessarily self-absorbed or. ‧ 國. 學. Financially Millennials are worse off than the generation before. According to a recent study carried out by Young Invincibles (2017) based on data from the U.S.. ‧. Federal Reserve. Millennials—15 to 34-year-olds in 2013—were worth roughly half as much as the Boomer Generation and are earning about 20% less in comparison to. Nat. sit. y. young adults in 1989. While Millennials earned $40,581 on average in 2013, members. er. io. of the Boomer Generation earned $50,910 annually in 1989. Meanwhile, young adults with debt and a degree in 2013 earned roughly the same as those who had no degree at. al. n. all in 1989: $50,000.. Ch. i n U. v. The study also found that educational attainment still an. engchi. individual’s best pathway to financial security.. Regarding to European Millennials, just like American Millennials, they have lived through an economic crisis since 2008. According to the European Union demographic data (2013) Millennials accounted for 24% of the adult population in the 28-member European Union in 2013, the last year for which there is comparable and comprehensive data. Economic stagnation has exacted a heavy toll on public sentiment. According to Pew Research Center (2014) survey, barely a fifth (22%) of Europeans are satisfied with the way things are going in their countries.. 15.

(24) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. And Europeans Millennials are no exception especially those from Greece — where 6% of Millennials are satisfied— and Spain —where 7% of Millennials are satisfied— in both countries the economic crisis still shows little signs of ending. Other remarkable fact is that regardless the economic stagnation most European Millennials are satisfied with their own lives. Young Germans (66%), living in the strongest economy in Europe, are the most satisfied; young Greeks (45%), the least happy. Nevertheless, European Millennials have a notably negative outlook about prospects for the next generation. When asked whether they thought children in their country would be better off financially than their parents once they grow up, only 38% of young. 政治大 Meanwhile, Asian Millennials are considered to be “the new big spenders in the 立 global consumer market”. According to AsiaToday (2016), Millennials in emerging British, 37% of young Germans and 15% of young French were optimistic.. ‧ 國. 學. markets such as China and India are seeing their average wage increase and their buying power will increase further in the coming years.. ‧. China’s recent developments in the marketplace laid the foundations for its current position and is having a huge effect on the prosperity of Millennial Generation. Nat. sit. y. and the growth of the Chinese middle class. Accordingly, whereas the American. er. io. middle class is pressed for money as a result of rising expenditures —from the grocery bill and housing all the way to college education— Chinese middle class flourishes.. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. Furthermore, China has the largest labor market in the world and domestic consumption. engchi. is increasing. China’s Millennial Generation has inherited an optimistic future with its economy. Although it faces many problems, the economy is rapidly improving and growing. China’s youth will take their economy to the next level, enlarging it to the world’s greatest. This generation will not only inherit large sums of money from their grandparents and parent, but also a rapidly changing burgeoning marketplace (Stanat, 2006). Overall as a consumption trend and as a result of soaring properties prices, young Millennials are no longer focused on buying houses and cars. Millennials are putting off commitments like home and car ownership due to the lack of funds and are even choosing to live with their parents to spend more on leisure activities and shopping.. 16.

(25) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. According to CBRE Global Millennial Survey (2016), 74% of Millennials are forced to live with their parents because wedges are not keeping up with property prices; 64% of Millennials are renting due to their cost/financial circumstances. In addition, Asian Millennials are more likely to live with parents than the global average of 49%. Living with parents means their spending power could be higher than North American and European counterparts with cultural norms of moving out.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 17. i n U. v.

(26) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. 3. Research Design This paper accounts for an explanatory research based on cross-sectional data, which compares individuals born after the year of 1980 to 1997, nationals from Western and East Asian countries; this cohort is also well-known as the Millennial Generation.. 政治大. Hence, this study has two levels of units: the country level and the individual level. Yet, ultimately the unit of analysis is individuals. The countries included in this. 立. research were selected drawing on Inglehart and Welzel (World Value Surveys, 2015). ‧ 國. 學. cultural map (See Appendix A). This is to say, that they all share “post-materialist” values, which in turn are linked to economic security. “Post-Materialist” values are. ‧. shared by individuals belonging to societies that have reached certain level of economic development. Accordingly, the unit of analysis belong to the following countries:. er. io. sit. y. Nat. Table 3-1: Unit of Analysis per Country. n. Countries a lWestern Countries East Asian v i Australia 14 % China 34% n Ch U c h i Hong Kong 16% Germany e n g 34% Spain. 19%. Japan. 17%. United States. 33%. South Korea. 14%. Taiwan. 19%. Total. 100%. Total. 18. 100%.

(27) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. In reviewing the previous research literature and applying a deductive model of reasoning, one can expect differences between groups from different geographic origins, mainly on family dependence, the perception of the self and the individual’s roles within the society. In this vein, this research examines how an individual’s educational level— independent variable— affects his or her attitudes toward the self and their role in society —dependent variable. Additionally, this study also includes the moderator variable geographic origin —East Asian or Western countries; such an interaction may alter the relationship between independent and outcome variable regarding the strength. 政治大 background index such as: gender, employment, religious denomination, self-perceived 立 social class, age, marital status, children. and/or direction thereof. Likewise, it incorporates control variables in the form of a. ‧ 國. 學. Additionally, in order to have a broader view of the sample’s attitudes, the following variables of interest were included: concern about current facts, priorities in. ‧. life and description of the self.. y. Nat. io. sit. 3.1 Framework. al. n. attitudes (DV).. er. This research study suggests a relationship between educational achievement (IV) and. i n U. v. It also tests the moderation effect that geographic origin and. Ch. engchi. background index (control variables) has on this association. The framing of variables builds on Inglehart and Welzel (2001) work on modernization and cultural change; which holds that economic growth brings in its wake rising levels of education and information, increasing people’s priority to act according to their choices.. Additionally, in their work they hold that although. socioeconomic development tends to change what persons want out of life, one's nationality remains a powerful predictor of one's values.. 19.

(28) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. Furthermore, the theory of values served to frame the association between education and attitude. The transmission of a value system from one generation to the next happens through social institutions such as educational curricula and the family. Hence, people’s basic values reflect no only what they were taught but also the society’s cultural heritage where they belong (Hitlin & Piliavin, 2004).. Nat. n. al. er. io. sit. y. ‧. Geographic origin East Asian / Western countries. 學. Moderator Variables. ‧ 國. 立. 治 index 政Background 大 Control Variables. Independent Variable. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Educational achievement. Figure 4. Framework. 20. Dependent Variable Millennials’ attitudes toward the self and their role in society.

(29) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. 3.2 Research Question To what extent, educational achievement affects differently East Asian and Western Millennials’ attitudes toward themselves and their role in society considering the cultural deep-rooted orientations representative from their particular geographic zones of origin.. 3.3 Hypothesis H1: The higher the educational level, the less family dependence a Millennial. 政治大 then Westerns Millennials are. 立. will tend to have. Yet, East Asians Millennials are more likely to be family dependent. ‧ 國. 學. H2: The higher the educational level a Millennial has, the more self-centered will tend to be. Yet, East Asian Millennials are more likely to take care of their elders. ‧. than Western Millennials are.. y. Nat. sit. H3: The higher the educational level a Millennial has, the more progressivist. al. er. io. attitude toward non-traditional family roles will tend to have. Yet, East Asians. v. n. Millennials are more likely to abide traditional family roles than Western Millennials are.. Ch. engchi. i n U. H4: The higher educational level a Millennial has, the less optimistic will tend to be. Yet, East Asians Millennials are more likely to have a greater sense of optimism than Western Millennials are.. 21.

(30) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. 3.4 Variables 1. Independent variable: a. Educational achievement 2. Dependent Variable: Millennials’ attitudes toward the self and their role in society. i. Family dependence 1. Living with parents or not ii. Attitude toward family and elders. 政治大. 1. Respect to elders. 立. 2. Elders considered a burden in society 3. Elders receiving more than enough from the. ‧ 國. 學. government. 4. Young people have more productivity at work than. ‧. old ones. iii. Women’s role in society. sit. y. Nat. 1. Women’s participation in politics 2. Women’s attainment of high education level. er. io. 3. Women’s participation in business. n. a v i iv. l Traditional family roles n Ch 1. e Attitude homosexuality hi U n g ctoward 2. Attitude toward divorce. 3. Attitude toward sex before marriage 4. Attitude toward abortion v. Optimism 1. Self-perception of happiness 2. Self-perception of health 3. Moderator Variables a. Geographic origin: East Asian or Western countries. 22.

(31) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. 4. Background Index a. Gender b. Age c. Self-perceived social class d. Marital status e. Number of Children f. Employment status g. Religious denomination 5. Other variables of interest:. 政治大 Description of the self 立. a. Priorities in life. 學. ‧ 國. b.. 3.5 Research Method. ‧. Two main phases encompass this study. It first started with an exploratory research, whereby previous researches, relevant theories, scholarly journals, newspaper articles,. sit. y. Nat. published books, and digital media were gathered, classified and analyzed. This literature review served as a backbone to later design this research study. The second. io. n. al. er. part of this study consist of an empirical research, with the following characteristics:. Ch. 3.5.1 Sampling Method. engchi. i n U. Sample frame: World Values Surveys Data Base Time frame: Wave 6 (2010-2014) Unit of Analysis: individuals born from 1981 to 1997 Sample size:. 23. v.

(32) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. Table 3-2: Sample Size Countries Sample % Western Countries Australia 183 14% Germany 436 34% Spain 244 19% United States 419 33% Total West 1,282 42% East Asian Countries China 591 34% Hong Kong 271 16% Japan 294 17% South Korea 249 14% Taiwan 335 19% Total East Asia 1,740 58% Total Sample Size 3,022 100%. 政治大. 立. ‧ 國. 學. per country with age starting from 17 years old and older.. Nat. sit. y. ‧. The Wave 6 of World Value Surveys included a sample size (N) of 1,200 respondents. n. al. er. io. 3.5.2 Instrument of measurement. i n U. v. Questionnaire: the variables measured where deliberately chosen from the official. Ch. engchi. questionnaire applied in the wave 6 of the World Values Survey (See Appendix B). The survey method applied was primarily face-to-face at respondent’s homes or phone interviews for remote areas.. 3.5.3 Levels of measurement and scales Three levels of measurement are present in the questionnaire —nominal, ordinal and ratio. Here below the scales used to treat each variable in this research:. 24.

(33) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. 1. Independent variable: a. Educational achievement The variable educational achievement has an ordinal level from low education to high education. Since WVS is a cross-national data, recoding each level to equivalent years of education might not be accurate. 2. Dependent Variable: a. Millennials’ attitudes toward the self and their role in society i. Family dependence: binary variable. 政治大 Ordinal variables measuring attitudes using a 1 to 4-degree Likert 立 scale, from more self-centered attitude to a less self-centered one.. ii. Attitude toward family and elders. ‧ 國. 學. The dimensions of this variable were reduced using factor analysis.. iii. Women’s role in society. ‧. Ordinal variables measuring attitudes using a 1 to 4-degree Likert. y. Nat. scale, from a more conservative attitude to a more progressivist one.. al. er. io. iv. Traditional family roles. sit. The dimensions of this variable were reduced using factor analysis.. n. v i n Cahmore conservativeUattitude to a more progressivist one. scale, from engchi. Ordinal variables measuring attitudes using a 1 to 10-degree Likert The dimensions of this variable were reduced using factor analysis. v. Optimism Ordinal variables measuring attitudes using a 1 to 4-degree Likert scale, from a very happy to not happy at all. The dimensions of this variable were reduced using factor analysis. 3. Moderator Variables a. Geographic origin: binary variable. 4. Background Index a. Gender: binary variable b. Age: ratio scale. 25.

(34) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. c. Self-perceived social class: ordinal scale from 1 upper class to 5 lower class. d. Marital status: binary variable. e. Number of Children: ratio scale f. Employment status: ordinal scale from 1 employed, 2 unemployed, and 3 other categories of employment. g. Religious denomination: binary variable. 5. Other variables of interest: a. Priorities in life. 政治大 Ordinal variables from 1 to 4-degree Likert scale. These variables were 立 used as elements of discussion and did no were included as predictors in b. Description of the self. ‧ 國. 學. any of the regression models.. ‧. 3.5.4 Statistical method. sit. y. Nat. Factor Analysis was applied to reduce the dimensions of the following variables: traditional family roles, attitudes toward family and elders, attitudes toward women’s. io. n. al. er. role in society and optimism. The octagonal rotation method Varimax, and principal. i n U. v. components extraction method, were applied to enhance the interpretability of the factors.. Ch. engchi. Multiple regression model served as the statistical method to measure the effect of the independent variables and interaction terms on the dependent variable. Logistic regression model was used to measure the effect of the independent variables and the interaction terms on the binary dependent variable family dependence. For the statistical analysis, missing observations were treated using the listwise deletion method. Respondents with any missing observation were dropped from the analysis. The Statistical Software for Social Science (SPSS) has been used for the data analysis.. 26.

(35) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. 4. Findings This section presents the research results.. Through the analysis of univariate. descriptive statistic, section 6.1 shows the demographic sample’s characteristics. Section 6.2 presents the sample’s interest and priorities in life. Section 6.3 presents the. 政治大. data analysis and the results of the hypotheses tested. The univariate statistics per variable included in the research are reported in Appendix C.. 立. ‧ 國. 學. 4.1 Demographics. The cohort reported ages ranging from 17 years old to 33 years old (M = 24.5,. ‧. SD = 3.96), the first wave of Millennials born after 1980 to1989 —from 23 to 33 years. y. 1990 to 1997 with ages ranging from 17 to 22 years old.. sit. Nat. old— accounted for 66% of the cases; 34% accounted for the second wave born from. er. io. Over a half (58%, M = 0.49, SD = 0.5) of the sample were from the East Asia. al. v i n Ccountry 6 shows the frequencies per region.UThe gender distribution was quite h e nand hi c g balanced; 51% and 49% respectively for females and males. In average, over a half n. region and the other half (42%) represented their counterpart in the West. Figure 5 and. (57%) of the Millennials sampled lived with their parents (M=0.57, SD = 0.50). Overall, as a cohort, 73.2% reported to have at least university education: preparatory type; being university with degree the highest education level achieved (M =7.07, SD = 1.95). 46% of East Asians reported to have achieved a university degree, against 24% of Western Millennials. East Asians had a slightly greater result in educational attainment (M = 7.50, SD = 1.72) than had Westerns (M = 6.48, SD = 2.08).. 27.

(36) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. 學 Figure 5: Sample Distribution of East Asian countries. ‧. ‧ 國. 立. 政治大. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Figure 6: Sample Distribution of Western Countries. 28.

(37) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. More than half (61%) of the sample manifested to have a job (M =1.42, SD = 0.55), whether a full, a partial one or self-employed. East Asian (64%) reported a higher proportion of employment than did Westerns (58%). Nearly a half (46%) of the sample manifested that they belong to a lower middle social class (M = 3.21, SD = 0.86). 27% said that they belong to a working class, 19% an upper class, and 7% to a lower class. Over a half (67%) of the sample were single (M = 0.33, SD = 0.47) and did not reported to have children (75%, M = 0.36, SD = 0.77). As for marital status, the results were quite similar for the two groups, around one third of the sample in each region. 政治大 Over a half (57%) of the sample did not have a religious affiliation (M = 0.43, 立 SD = 0.50). 43% belonged to at least one religious denomination, such as: Roman reported to be married (East = 30%, West = 36%).. ‧ 國. (4%).. 學. Catholic (13.8%), Protestant (6%), Buddhist (7%), Christian (2%), and Evangelical. Variable. sit. io. Table 4-1: Univariate Statistics for Demographics. al. N. MV. er. Nat. y. Appendix C for a complete univariate statistic report.. ‧. Table 4-1 shows the univariate statistics for demographic variables. See. Mean. SD 1.95. Origin. 3022. 0. 0.49. 0.5. Gender. 3022. 0. 0.49. 0.5. Age. 3022. 0. 24.50. 3.96. Employment. 2993. 29. 1.42. 0.55. Marital status. 3012. 10. 0.33. 0.47. Children. 2733. 289. 0.36. 0.77. Religion. 2950. 72. 0.43. 0.50. Self-perceived social class. 2903. 119. 3.21. 0.86. n. v 7.07 i Educational attainment 2980 42 n Ch U 0.57 e n g2725 Family dependence c h i 297. 29. 0.5.

(38) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. 4.2 Factor Analysis Result for Each Outcome Variable Position toward family and elders (n = 2532) The dependent variable consisted of four components: older people are not respected much these days (M = 2.28, SD = 0.735), older people get more than their fair share from the government (M = 2.81, SD = 0.77), older people are a burden in society (M = 3.13, SD = 0.69), companies that employ young people perform better than those that employ people from different ages (M = 2.76, SD = 0.75). The extraction method applied was principal component analysis. The KMO test reported 0.634, an acceptable indicator of sampling adequacy. Out of the four, one component explained 40% of the. 政治大. total variance. Older people are a burden in society accounted for the highest factor. 立. loading (0.738).. ‧ 國. 學. Traditional family roles (n = 2763). The dependent variable included four components: homosexuality (M = 5.83,. ‧. SD = 3.237) abortion (M = 4.55, SD = 2.74) divorce (M = 5.94, SD = 2.77), and sex before marriage (M = 6.40, SD = 2.97). The extraction method applied was principal. sit. y. Nat. component analysis. The KMO test reported 0.812 a good indicator of sampling adequacy. Out of the four, one component explained 69% of the total variance.. io. n. al. er. Divorce accounted for the highest factor loading (0.869) Women role in society (n = 2528). Ch. engchi. i n U. v. The dependent variable included six components: having a job is the best way for a woman to be independent (M = 1.59, SD = 0.75), one of my main goals in life has been to make my parents proud (M = 1.95, SD = 0.73), when a mother works for pay, the children suffer (M = 2.81, SD = 0.76), on the whole, men make better political leaders than women do (M = 2.93, SD = 0.77), a university education is more important for a boy than for a girl (M = 3.25, SD = 0.72), on the whole, men make better business executives than women do (M = 3.03, SD = 0.78), being a housewife is just as fulfilling as working for pay do (M = 2.34, SD = 0.83). The extraction method applied was principal component analysis. The KMO test reported 0.749 a good indicator of sampling adequacy. Out of the 6, two components were extracted, explaining 40% and 17% of the total variance respectively.. 30.

(39) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. A university education is more important for a boy than for a girl (0.816), along with men make better business executives than women do (0.849) accounted for the highest factor loading. Optimism (n = 2982) The dependent variable included two components: feeling of happiness (M = 1.83, SD = 0.60) and state of health (M = 1.82, SD = 0.74). The extraction method applied was principal component analysis. The KMO test reported a 0.66 an acceptable indicator of sampling adequacy. One component was extracted, explaining 68% and of the total variance. Feeling of happiness accounted for the highest factor loading. 政治大 Section 6.2 presented the descriptive statistic of the sample. Section 6.3 shows 立 the statistical analysis per each hypothesis formulated in this research.. (0.826).. ‧ 國. 學. 4.3 Hypothesis Testing. ‧. This research is aimed at finding associations between the independent variable. sit. y. Nat. educational level and the dependent variable Millennials’ attitudes. Furthermore, it analyses the interaction effect that an individual’s geographic origin (moderator. io. n. al. er. variable) may have on the relationship of the dependent and independent variable. This. i n U. v. section presents the results of each hypothesis tested and its respective statistical analysis.. Ch. engchi. Multiple regression and the logistic regression model for binary responses have been used to determine the aforementioned associations and interaction effects. The study of attitudes in Social Science is complex and contested, since individuals’ attitudes almost always have more than one reason. Hence, in order to provide alternative explanations for the association, four models were derived from the statistical analysis: No interaction model 1: incudes independent variable and moderator variable —geographic origin. No interaction model 2: model 1 plus the remainder of the controlled variables —background index.. 31.

(40) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. Interaction model 3: model 2, plus the cross-term educational achievement*geographic origin. Complete model 4: model 3 plus the remainder of the interaction terms. Hypothesis 1: The higher the educational level, the less family dependence a Millennial will tend to have. Yet, East Asians Millennials are more likely to be family dependent then Westerns Millennials are.. 政治大. Table 4-2: Logistic Regression Model on Family Dependence (n = 2,515). B. Geographic Origin Gender. Employment Status. No. of Children. 1.041. -0.068. 0.027. 0.086. 2.840 ***. Exp (B) 0.934 * 4.706 ***. 1.560 0.167. Model 3. B. Exp (B). B. SE B. Exp (B). -0.035. 0.034. 0.966. -0.047. 0.040. 0.954. 0.110. 4.758 ***. 1.695. 0.205. 0.097. 1.182. 0.342. 0.159. 0.876 ***. -0.224. 0.024. 1.200. 0.329. 0.152. -2.312. 0.224. -0.499. 0.149. 1.549. 0.109. 0.165. 0.097. 1.179. -0.134. 0.015. 0.875 ***. -0.133. 0.015. 0.172. 0.097. 1.188. 0.182. 0.097. -1.484. 0.127. -0.202. 0.084. 0.389. 0.102. -0.174. 0.060. 0.227 *** 0.817 * 1.476 *** 0.841 **. Model 4. SE B. -1.515. 0.129. -0.216. 0.085. 0.394. 0.102. -0.179. 0.060. 0.220 *** 0.806 * 1.483 *** 0.836 **. 5.447 *** 1.408 * 0.799 *** 1.390 * 0.099 *** 0.607 ** 2.069 *** 0.723 **. 0.161 0.097. 0.011. 0.112. 1.011. -0.317. 0.204. 0.728. 0.661. 0.127. 1.936 ***. -0.079. 0.112. 0.924. Origin x Marital Status. 1.133. 0.297. 3.104 ***. Origin x Children. 0.252. 0.156. 1.287. Origin x Religion. -0.555. 0.214. Origin x Gender. al. n. Origin x Education. io. 0.727 -0.324. Social class (subjective). Origin x Age. v ni. -0.167. Ch. Origin x Employment Status. engchi U. er. Religion. 1.044. 0.022. Nat. Marital Status. 0.040. B. SE B. ‧. Age. ‧ 國. Highest educational attained. Exp (B). y. Variable. Model 2. SE B. sit. Model 1. 學. 立. 0.103. Origin x Social Class Likelihood-Ratio Cox and Cornel R2 Dependent variable: family dependency. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p<0.001. -0.846. 0.223 3270.889 0.69. 2597.661 0.288. 2594.933 2.88. 32. 0.108 2488.587 0.318. 0.574 ** 1.250 *.

(41) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. The significant negative association between educational attainment (IV) and family dependence (DV) appears in model 2 with no interaction. Hence, other variables controlled, it is likely that higher levels of education are associated with lesser probabilities of family dependence. The association loses significance in models 3 and 4 with interaction; that is, educational attainment does not affect directly family dependence. Geographic origin (MV) has a significant positive association with family dependence along the four models. That is, East Asians are associated with higher probabilities —around 5 times greater— of family dependence than their Western. 政治大 Little evidence exits of interaction between origin (MV) and education (IV). 立 Evidence exist of interaction between origin and age, and it has a positive. counterparts.. ‧ 國. 學. moderator effect on age. That is, East Asians as they age, they increase the likelihood that family dependence occurs.. ‧. To summarize, hypothesis 1 has been partially proved by the direct effect that origin (MV) has on family dependence. One can say, that education does not directly. Nat. sit. n. al. er. io. Hypothesis 2:. y. affect family dependence, but is an indirect cause through origin.. Ch. i n U. v. The higher the educational level a Millennial has, the more self-centered will. engchi. tend to be. Yet, East Asian Millennials are more likely to take care of their elders than Western Millennials are. This hypothesis measured attitudes considering the following dimensions: respect to elders, elders considered a burden in society, older people getting too much from the government, and young people having more productivity at work than older ones have. Exist a significant negative association between educational attainment (IV) and position toward family and elders (DV). The association holds along from the no interaction models to the interaction ones. Therefore, as a cohort, the higher the level of education a person has, the more self-centered he or she will tend to be.. 33.

(42) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. Geographic origin (MV) has a significant negative association with position toward family and elders (DV). That is, under statistical control, it is plausible that East Asians have a more self-centered attitude toward family and elders than their Western counterparts. Table 4-3: Multiple Regression Models on Position Towards Family and Elders (n = 2,140) Model 1 Variable Highest educational level attained. -0.030. 0.011. -0.526. Gender. 立. Age. Religion. ***. ***. Origin x Social Class R2 F for change in R2. 0.042. 0.024. 0.007. 0.153. 0.041. 0.089. -0.169. 0.058. 0.023. 0.009. 0.204. 0.054. 0.163. 0.041. -0.106. 0.057. -0.084. 0.058. -0.105. 0.071. -0.049. 0.034. -0.045. 0.034. -0.020. 0.038. -0.013. 0.043. -0.015. 0.043. 0.015. 0.059. -0.012. 0.026. -0.009. 0.026. 0.045. 0.035. 0.084. 0.051. 0.118. 0.084. 0.001. 0.053. -0.080. 0.046. 0.149. 0.129. -0.135. 0.067. -0.055. 0.087. -0.109. 0.044. 0.046. y. Ch. -0.614. 0.007. er. al. 0.014. 0.025. ***. -0.113. -0.058. 0.042. ***. 0.046. ***. SE B. -0.113. **. -0.530. ***. B. 0.045. n. Origin x Religion. 0.014. 0.124. io. Origin x Children. -0.064. Model 4. -0.514. Origin x Employment Status Origin x Marital Status. B. SE B. sit. Origin x Age. 0.012. Nat. Origin x Gender. -0.043. Model 3. 政治大 ***. Social class (subjective) Origin x Education. B. SE B. ** *** ***. 學. No. of children. **. ‧ 國. Employment Status Marital Status. 0.044. Model 2. ‧. Geographic Origin. B. SE B. engchi U. v ni. **. 0.080. 0.094. 0.097. 0.104. 92.791. 4.840. 7.197. 2.379. *** *** ** ** ***. *. *. *. Dependent Variable: Position Toward Family and Elders p < .05. **p < .01. ***p<0.001. Nonetheless, exist evidence of an interaction between origin*education, which in turn has a positive moderator effect on educational attainment. That is, it is likely that in East Asian societies the higher educated a person is, the less self-centered he or she will tend to be.. 34.

(43) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. Summarizing, the hypothesis has been disproved. On one hand, the interaction association between educational attainment, attitudes toward family and elders, and geographic origin is significant. Yet, the direction of the association is negative, contrary to what has been posed in hypothesis 2. Hypothesis 3: The higher the educational level a Millennial has, the more progressivist attitude toward non-traditional family roles will tend to have. Yet, East Asians Millennials are more likely to abide traditional family roles than Western Millennials are.. 政治大 consist of a person’s. Hypothesis 3 has been measured with two components. The first one — traditional family roles—. attitudes toward abortion,. 立 homosexuality, sex before marriage and divorce. The second one consist of a person’s. ‧ 國. 學. attitudes toward women’s roles in society in terms of their participation in politics, education, and enrollment in the labor force.. ‧. First component: traditional family roles. Exist a significant positive association between educational attainment (IV) and. Nat. sit. y. traditional family roles (DV) in the models with no interaction. That is, the higher level. er. io. of education a person has, the more progressivist stance he or she will tend to have. Geographic origin (MV) has a significant negative association with traditional. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. family roles. That is, it is very likely that East Asians have a more conservative attitude. engchi. toward traditional family roles, than their Western counterparts. Exist evidence of strong interaction between origin*education. The negative association between origin and traditional family roles is somewhat tempered by the moderation effect of origin*education on origin. That is, among East Asians as they get more educated, the less conservative he or she will tend to be. Summarizing, the first component of hypothesis three: attitudes toward traditional family role has been proved. Not only has educational achievement a direct effect on attitudes, but also have geographic origin and education an interaction effect on the relationship.. 35.

(44) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. Table 4-4: Regression Model on Traditional Family Roles (n = 2,326) Model 1 Variable. B. Highest educational level attained Geographic Origin. Model 2. 0.060. SE B 0.010. B ***. -0.823. 0.040. ***. Gender. Model 3. 0.032. SE B 0.011. B **. -0.008. SE B 0.013. -0.850. 0.041. ***. -0.862. 0.041. Model 4 B -0.010. SE B 0.013. ***. -0.986. 0.078. ***. -0.232. 0.054. ***. 0.020. 0.008. *. 0.058. 0.051. -0.171. 0.038. ***. -0.172. 0.038. ***. Age. 0.016. 0.006. **. 0.014. 0.006. *. Employment Status. 0.049. 0.037. 0.032. 0.037. Marital Status. -0.212. 0.052. ***. -0.175. 0.052. **. 0.059. 0.066. No. of children. -0.155. 0.032. ***. -0.147. 0.032. ***. -0.153. 0.036. ***. Religion. -0.223. 0.039. ***. -0.231. 0.039. ***. -0.410. 0.055. ***. -0.069. 0.023. **. -0.086. 0.033. *. 0.207. 0.041. ***. 0.188. 0.044. ***. 政治大. Social class (subjective). -0.074. Origin x Education. 立. Origin x Gender Origin x Age. 0.023. **. Origin x Social Class. Nat. R2 F for change in R2. 0.151 206.880. 0.194 17.616. 0.203 25.713. ‧. Origin x Religion. 0.075 0.048. -0.047. 0.041. -0.272. 0.113. 0.047. 0.058. 0.351. 0.078. 0.017. 0.040. ***. 0.216 5.636. y. Origin x Children. ‧ 國. Origin x Marital Status. 學. Origin x Employment Status. 0.124 -0.069. er. io. sit. Dependent variable: Traditional Family Roles *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < 0.001. Second component: attitudes toward women’s role in society. n. al. i n U. v. Exist a positive significant association between educational attainment (IV) and. Ch. engchi. attitudes toward women’s role in society (DV). The association holds significant along the four models. That is, the higher the educational level a person has, the less conservative attitudes his or her will tend to have. The association between geographic origin (MV) and attitudes toward women’s role in society (DV) is significant and negative. Therefore, it is plausible that East Asians have a more conservative attitude than their Western counterparts. Little evidence exists of the interaction origin*education. Hence, one can say that a person’s attitudes are better explained by the unique direct effect of education and geographic origin. Summarizing, the second component of hypothesis 3 has been proved.. 36.

(45) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. Table 4-5: Regression Model on Women’s Role in Society (n = 2,292) Model 1 Variable. B 0.057 -0.599. 0.042. Model 3. B. SE B. ***. 0.033. 0.011. **. ***. -0.557. 0.042. -0.453. 0.039. Age. 0.010. 0.006. Employment Status. 0.123. 0.039. Marital Status. -0.046. 0.053. No. Children. -0.084. 0.032. 0.018. 0.041. -0.049. 0.024. Highest educational level attained Geographic Origin. SE B 0.011. Model 2. Gender. Religion Social class (subjective) Origin x Education Origin x Gender. 立. Origin x Age. 0.041. SE B 0.014. ***. -0.554. ***. -0.453 0.010. 0.006. 0.127. 0.039. **. B. SE B. **. 0.043. 0.014. **. 0.042. ***. -0.661. 0.082. ***. 0.039. ***. -0.487. 0.056. ***. 0.024. 0.008. **. **. 0.118. 0.052. *. 0.046. 0.068. **. -0.083. 0.037. *. -0.155. 0.056. **. -0.026. 0.034. -0.092. 0.046. 0.058. 0.078. -0.130. 0.050. -0.022. 0.043. -0.228. 0.116. 0.023. 0.060. 0.361. 0.081. -0.051. 0.041. -0.055. 0.054. *. -0.086. 0.032. 0.020. 0.041. *. -0.051. 0.024. -0.045. 0.043. 政治大. *. ‧ 國. 學. Origin x Employment Status Origin x Marital Status. B. Model 4. Origin x Children Origin x Religion. Nat. F for change in R2. 0.082. 0.141. 0.141. 0.159. 101.804. 22.379. 1.098. 7.103. **. *. ***. y. R2. ‧. Origin x Social Class. *. er. io. sit. Dependent Variable: Women’s Role in Society *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < 0.001. al. v i n C hlevel a Millennial has, The higher educational e n g c h i U the less optimistic will tend to be. Yet, East Asians Millennials are more likely to have a greater sense of optimism than n. Hypothesis 4:. Western Millennials are. The variable optimism was measured in terms of a person’s self-perceived happiness and self-perceived health. Model one without interaction shows that the association between educational attainment (IV) and optimism (DV) is significant and negative. That is, the higher educated a person is, the less optimistic they will tend to be. However, the association loses significance after the statistic control in models with interaction.. 37.

(46) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. Exist a significant positive association between geographic origin (MV) and optimism (DV). The association holds along the four models. That is, it is very likely that East Asians have a greater sense of happiness and health, than their Western counterparts. Little evidence exists of an interaction between origin*education. Hence, one can say that education does not directly affect optimism but is and indirect cause through geographic origin. Table 4-6: Regression on Optimism (n = 2,488). 政治大. Model 1 Variable. B. Model 2. SE B. B. SE B. B. SE B. -0.014. 0.015. -0.016. 0.015. 0.262. 0.045. 0.257. 0.088. -0.028. 0.062. 0.011. **. -0.003. 0.012. 0.352. 0.045. ***. 0.263. 0.045. -0.027. 0.042. 0.025. 0.007. ***. 0.025. Employment Status. 0.093. 0.041. *. Marital Status. 0.228. 0.057. ***. 0.017. 0.035. -0.104. 0.044. *. 0.282. 0.026. ***. ‧ 國. -0.027. ***. 0.042. **. 0.035. 0.009. ***. 0.089. 0.042. *. 0.116. 0.058. *. 0.219. 0.058. 0.223. 0.076. **. 0.018. 0.035. -0.012. 0.041. -0.105. 0.044. -0.111. 0.063. 0.284. 0.026. 0.287. 0.038. 0.050. 0.045. 0.066 -0.001. 0.048 0.085. -0.090. 0.054. -0.038. 0.046. -0.010. 0.124. Origin x Children. 0.081. 0.062. Origin x Religion. 0.024. 0.089. -0.008. 0.045. Origin x Employment Status Origin x Marital Status. al. n. Origin x Age. io. Social class (subjective) Origin x Education Origin x Gender. Ch. engchi U. R2. 0.024. 0.081. 0.082. F for change in R2. 30.756. 21.999. 1.245. 38. *. y. v ni. Origin x Social Class. Dependent Variable: Optimism: Happiness and Self perceived health *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < 0.001.. ***. sit. How many children do you have Religion. ‧. ***. Nat. 0.007. er. Age. ***. 學. SE B. 立. Gender. Model 4. B. -0.032. Highest educational level attained Geographic Origin. Model 3. ***. 0.083 0.592. ***.

(47) MILLENNIALS IN THE EAST AND THE WEST: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. To conclude this section, Table 4-7 summarizes the results for each hypothesis tested. Table 4-7 : Hypothesis Testing Summary Hypotheses. Test. Family dependence. Partially proved. Attitudes toward family and elders. Disproved. Attitudes toward family roles. Proved. Attitudes toward women’s role in society. Proved. Optimism. Partially proved. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 39. i n U. v.