IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ecoind/v46y2025i2p318-339.html

Generational differences in work attitudes: The role of union instrumentality and socioeconomic status

Author

Listed:
  • Heungjun Jung

    (Business Administration, Seoul National University of Science and Technology, Korea)

  • Minju Shin

    (Business Administration, Pukyong National University, Korea)

Abstract

Although the work attitudes of new generations entering the labor market are significantly different from those of previous generations, whether these different attitudes are due to generational or age effects is unclear. This study analyzes the work attitudes of different generations of young adults of the same age using data from the 2006 and 2019 Korean Workplace Panel Surveys. The results show that millennials and Generation Z, the young adults in 2019, are less satisfied with their jobs and less committed to their organizations than Generation X, the young adults in 2006. Second, millennials and Generation Z have higher union instrumentality than Generation X, which, in turn, is positively associated with job satisfaction. Finally, perceived current socioeconomic status exacerbates the negative relationship between cohorts and job satisfaction, whereas perceived future improvement in socioeconomic status mitigates the negative relationship between cohorts and job commitment. The authors discuss the findings as they relate to economic disadvantages, including fewer opportunities in the labor market for new generations.

Suggested Citation

  • Heungjun Jung & Minju Shin, 2025. "Generational differences in work attitudes: The role of union instrumentality and socioeconomic status," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 46(2), pages 318-339, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:46:y:2025:i:2:p:318-339
    DOI: 10.1177/0143831X241246892
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0143831X241246892
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0143831X241246892?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ioulia Bessa & Andy Charlwood & Danat Valizade, 2021. "Do Unions Cause Job Dissatisfaction? Evidence from a Quasi‐Experiment in the United Kingdom," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 59(2), pages 251-278, June.
    2. Graham Lowe & Sandra Rastin, 2000. "Organizing the Next Generation: Influences on Young Workers’ Willingness to Join Unions in Canada," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 38(2), pages 203-222, June.
    3. Michael Alivin & Magnus Sverke, 2000. "Do New Generations Imply the End of Solidarity? Swedish Unionism in the Era of Individualization," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 21(1), pages 71-95, February.
    4. Michael Freedman, 2017. "Are Recent Generations Catching Up or Falling Behind? Trends in Inter-Generational Inequality," LIS Working papers 689, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    5. KonShik Kim, 2023. "The impact of job quality on organizational commitment and job satisfaction: The moderating role of socioeconomic status," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 44(3), pages 773-797, August.
    6. Gabrielova, Karina & Buchko, Aaron A., 2021. "Here comes Generation Z: Millennials as managers," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 64(4), pages 489-499.
    7. Jesse Rothstein, 2025. "Corrigendum to “The Lost Generation? Labor Market Outcomes for Post-Great Recession Entrants”," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 60(4), pages 1458-1467.
    8. Gustavo A. García & Diego Ren� Gonzales-Miranda & Oscar Gallo & Juan Pablo Roman-Calder�n, 2018. "Employee Involvement and Job Satisfaction: A Tale of the Millennial Generation," Documentos de Trabajo de Valor Público 16516, Universidad EAFIT.
    9. Esa Karonen & Mikko Niemelä, 2020. "Life Course Perspective on Economic Shocks and Income Inequality Through Age‐Period‐Cohort Analysis: Evidence From Finland," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 66(2), pages 287-310, June.
    10. Louis Chauvel & Martin Schröder, 2014. "Generational Inequalities and Welfare Regimes," LIS Working papers 606, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    11. Andy Charlwood, 2002. "Why Do Non–union Employees Want to Unionize? Evidence from Britain," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 40(3), pages 463-491, September.
    12. Gregor Murray, 2017. "Union renewal: what can we learn from three decades of research?," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 23(1), pages 9-29, February.
    13. Marta Escalonilla & Begoña Cueto & María José Pérez-Villadóniga, 2022. "Is the Millennial Generation Left Behind? Inter-Cohort Labour Income Inequality in a Context of Economic Shock," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 164(1), pages 285-321, November.
    14. Alex Bryson & Lorenzo Cappellari & Claudio Lucifora, 2004. "Does Union Membership Really Reduce Job Satisfaction?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 42(3), pages 439-459, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Peter Haynes & Jack Vowles & Peter Boxall, 2005. "Explaining the Younger– Older Worker Union Density Gap: Evidence from New Zealand," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 43(1), pages 93-116, March.
    2. Esa Karonen & Mikko Niemelä, 2022. "Necessity-Rich, Leisure-Poor: The Long-Term Relationship Between Income Cohorts and Consumption Through Age-Period-Cohort Analysis," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 43(3), pages 599-620, September.
    3. Marta Escalonilla & Begoña Cueto & María José Pérez-Villadóniga, 2022. "Is the Millennial Generation Left Behind? Inter-Cohort Labour Income Inequality in a Context of Economic Shock," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 164(1), pages 285-321, November.
    4. Olivier Guillot & Magali Jaoul-Grammare & Isabelle Terraz, 2019. "Union Membership in France: An Empirical Study," Working Papers of BETA 2019-04, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    5. Michael Freedman, 2024. "Earnings, Cohort Effects, and Inter‐Generational Inequality: Evidence From the Luxembourg Income Study," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 70(2), pages 278-290, June.
    6. Ferdi Botha & Esperanza Vera-Toscano, 2022. "Generational Differences in Subjective Well-Being in Australia," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(5), pages 2903-2932, October.
    7. Alex Bryson & Rhys Davies, 2019. "Family, Place and the Intergenerational Transmission of Union Membership," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 57(3), pages 624-650, September.
    8. Esperanza Vera‑Toscano & Elena C. Meroni, 2021. "Correction to: An Age–Period–Cohort Approach to the Incidence and Evolution of Overeducation and Skills Mismatch," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 153(2), pages 779-779, January.
    9. Alex Bryson & Rhys Davies, 2019. "Accounting for geographical variance in the union satisfaction gap," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(2), pages 104-125, March.
    10. Esperanza Vera-Toscano & Elena C. Meroni, 2021. "An age–period–cohort approach to disentangling generational differences in family values and religious beliefs: Understanding the modern Australian family today," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 45(20), pages 653-692.
    11. Olivier Guillot & Magali Jaoul-Grammare & Isabelle Terraz, 2024. "Job strain and union membership: An empirical study based on French data," Working Papers of BETA 2024-08, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    12. Rachel Aleks & Tina Saksida & Aaron S. Wolf, 2021. "Hero or Villain? A Cohort and Generational Analysis of How Youth Attitudes Towards Unions Have Changed over Time," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 59(2), pages 532-567, June.
    13. Jane Holgate & Gabriella Alberti & Iona Byford & Ian Greenwood, 2021. "Trade union community membership: exploring what people who are not in paid employment could contribute to union activism," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 27(4), pages 469-483, November.
    14. Hippolyte d’Albis & Ikpidi Badji, 2017. "Intergenerational inequalities in standards of living in France," Economie et Statistique / Economics and Statistics, Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (INSEE), issue 491-492, pages 71-92.
    15. Gennaro Punzo & Rosalia Castellano & Mirko Buonocore, 2018. "Job Satisfaction in the “Big Four” of Europe: Reasoning Between Feeling and Uncertainty Through CUB Models," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 139(1), pages 205-236, August.
    16. Ege Aksu & Sidhya Balakrishnan & Eric Bettinger & Jonathan S. Hartley & Michael S. Kofoed & Dubravka Ritter & Douglas A. Webber, 2024. "Navigating Higher Education Insurance: An Experimental Study on Demand and Adverse Selection"," Working Papers 24-07, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    17. Lorenzo Frangi & Muhammad Umar Boodoo & Robert Hebdon, 2022. "Demobilised or dormant? Exploring pro-strike attitudes among employees who have never joined a strike," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(3), pages 1236-1259, August.
    18. Georgellis, Yannis & Lange, Thomas, 2009. "Are Union Members Happy Workers after All? Evidence from Eastern and Western European Labor Markets," MPRA Paper 17020, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. David Marsden, 2010. "Individual Voice in Employment Relationships: A Comparison Under Different Collective Voice Regimes," CEP Discussion Papers dp1006, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    20. C Green & J S Heywood, 2010. "Unions, Dissatisfied Workers and Sorting," Working Papers 615292, Lancaster University Management School, Economics Department.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:46:y:2025:i:2:p:318-339. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.ekhist.uu.se/english.htm .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.