IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ecoind/v46y2025i2p318-339.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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
    ---><---

    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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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.