An Empirical Study on Values of Japanese Office Workers : In Comparison with Youth Culture

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As is well known, 'self-interest' , and 'preference' are the two dominant values among contemporary Japanese youth, especially among college students. College students, most of whom will become office workers, are individualistic in that they are looking for opportunities to earn more money and to attain higher social status, and also in that they are eager to enjoy themselves. On the other hand, Japanese companies are said to be rather collectivistic. The company requires its workers to contribute largely to the company's success. And oddly enough, office workers seem to accept the requirement and to work hard willingly. There is a great difference between the college students' individualism and the ex-college students office workers' collectivism. How can college students transform themselves so quickly?To clarify the process of the quick self-transformation of the Japanese youth, we interviewed several office workers and a dozen of college students, and also conducted a survery research, which asked 633 senior students of a college in Kansai area. Findings are as follows.1 College clubs are a primary focus for contemporary Japanese college students, who never think of their future life course until they become junior.2 Being junior, their focus moves to getting a job. Their activities come to be detaermined by self-interest.3 In the circumstances, to act from self-interest means to conform to the company's demands. For if they don't conform, they lose their chances. The conformity lasts for years, until they come to acquire collectivistic attitudes.