Work values and cultural background: a comparative analysis of work values of Chinese and British engineers in the UK
In literature of work-related values and attitudes, it is often argued that different work attitudes could be attributed to different ethnic origins and cultural backgrounds. This perspective article argues that we should avoid a deterministic argument of cultural essentialism and explore how ethnic...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1144557/full |
| _version_ | 1797824264971223040 |
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| author | Ziteng Shi Wei Huang Yuhui Liang |
| author_facet | Ziteng Shi Wei Huang Yuhui Liang |
| author_sort | Ziteng Shi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In literature of work-related values and attitudes, it is often argued that different work attitudes could be attributed to different ethnic origins and cultural backgrounds. This perspective article argues that we should avoid a deterministic argument of cultural essentialism and explore how ethnic differences in work values were formed in specifical socioeconomic and cultural contexts. To support this argument, this research conducted in-depth interviews to explore the mechanisms underlying the formation of British and Chinese immigrant engineers’ work values in three dimensions: intrinsic-extrinsic, masculine-feminine, uncertainty avoidance-entrepreneurial risk. The main finding in this paper is that the different social and cultural milieus where both ethnic groups grew up to a large extent contributed to their different work habitus, which further resulted in their different work values. To conclude, this paper contributes to the literature by rejecting the cultural essentialism, which links individual work attitudes with their ethnic/cultural backgrounds in a “deterministic” way. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T10:36:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c04fa78f51db47aab063493a432fc0d7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T10:36:22Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-c04fa78f51db47aab063493a432fc0d72023-05-18T06:10:48ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782023-05-011410.3389/fpsyg.2023.11445571144557Work values and cultural background: a comparative analysis of work values of Chinese and British engineers in the UKZiteng Shi0Wei Huang1Yuhui Liang2School of Marxism, Hohai University, Nanjing, ChinaSchool of Labor and Human Resources, Renmin University of China, Beijing, ChinaSchool of Public Administration, Hohai University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, ChinaIn literature of work-related values and attitudes, it is often argued that different work attitudes could be attributed to different ethnic origins and cultural backgrounds. This perspective article argues that we should avoid a deterministic argument of cultural essentialism and explore how ethnic differences in work values were formed in specifical socioeconomic and cultural contexts. To support this argument, this research conducted in-depth interviews to explore the mechanisms underlying the formation of British and Chinese immigrant engineers’ work values in three dimensions: intrinsic-extrinsic, masculine-feminine, uncertainty avoidance-entrepreneurial risk. The main finding in this paper is that the different social and cultural milieus where both ethnic groups grew up to a large extent contributed to their different work habitus, which further resulted in their different work values. To conclude, this paper contributes to the literature by rejecting the cultural essentialism, which links individual work attitudes with their ethnic/cultural backgrounds in a “deterministic” way.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1144557/fullwork valuescultural differenceswork ethichabitusethnicity |
| spellingShingle | Ziteng Shi Wei Huang Yuhui Liang Work values and cultural background: a comparative analysis of work values of Chinese and British engineers in the UK Frontiers in Psychology work values cultural differences work ethic habitus ethnicity |
| title | Work values and cultural background: a comparative analysis of work values of Chinese and British engineers in the UK |
| title_full | Work values and cultural background: a comparative analysis of work values of Chinese and British engineers in the UK |
| title_fullStr | Work values and cultural background: a comparative analysis of work values of Chinese and British engineers in the UK |
| title_full_unstemmed | Work values and cultural background: a comparative analysis of work values of Chinese and British engineers in the UK |
| title_short | Work values and cultural background: a comparative analysis of work values of Chinese and British engineers in the UK |
| title_sort | work values and cultural background a comparative analysis of work values of chinese and british engineers in the uk |
| topic | work values cultural differences work ethic habitus ethnicity |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1144557/full |
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