Structure and Measurement of Work Values of Chinese University Students

Abstract

Work values—a key aspect of global value systems—play an important role in people’s career and work lives. In this paper, we report on three studies that explored, developed, and established validity evidence for the structure of work values held by Chinese university students. In Study 1, we conducted an open-ended survey (N = 881) and coded the responses using a grounded theory approach. Informed by these results, in Study 2, we developed a new scale—the Work Values Measure (WVM)—and extracted its structure using exploratory factor analysis (N = 507). In Study 3, we established validity evidence for scores on the WVM by examining its psychometric properties (N_sample1 = 589, N_sample2 = 547, N_sample3 = 84). Results revealed a 10-factor structure of work values among Chinese university students, consisting of pay, comfort, security, fairness, development, relationships, prestige, meaning, variety, and self-direction. Scores on the WVM demonstrated good test-retest reliability, internal consistency reliability, construct validity, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and criterion-related validity. Overall, the results suggest that the WVM offers a reliable and valid means to assess the work values of Chinese university students.

Keywords

Chinese university students work values structure measurement

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Abessolo

Hirschi

Rossier

(2021). Development and validation of a multidimensional career values questionnaire: A measure integrating work values, career orientations, and career anchors. Journal of Career Development, 48(3), 243–259. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845319846567

Albrecht

Marty

Brandon-Jones

N. J.

(2020). Measuring values at work: Extending existing frameworks to the context of work. Journal of Career Assessment, 28(4), 531–550. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072720901604

Auerswald

Moshagen

(2019). How to determine the number of factors to retain in exploratory factor analysis: A comparison of extraction methods under realistic conditions. Psychological Methods, 24(4), 468–491. https://doi.org/10.1037/met0000200

Blair

S. L.

Madigan

T. J.

(2021). Marriage and fertility preferences among young women in China: Changes over time. Journal of Family Issues, 42(10), 2353–2376. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X20980040

Cable

D. M.

Edwards

J. R.

(2004). Complementary and supplementary fit: A theoretical and empirical integration. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(5), 822–834. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.89.5.822

Cao

Hamori

(2022). Adapting careers to the COVID crisis: The impact of the pandemic on employees' career orientations. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 139, 103789. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2022.103789

Chang

Zhang

Dik

B. J.

(2024). Predicting work values: A psychology of working theory perspective. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 154, 104030. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2024.104030

Chen

(2012). The empirical research on status of contemporary college students’ work values. Psychological Exploration, 32, 553–559.

Cho

Jiang

W. Y.

(2021). If you do what you love, will the money follow? How work orientation impacts objective career outcomes via managerial (mis) perceptions. Academy of Management Journal, 65(4), 1353–1382. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2020.0841

10.

Consiglio

Cenciotte

Borgogni

Alessandri

Schwartz

S. H.

(2017). The WVal: A new measure of work values. Journal of Career Assessment, 25(3), 405–422. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072716639691

11.

Corbin

J. M.

Strauss

A. L.

(2015). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (4th ed.): Sage publications.

12.

Feng

(1989). China young people's employment problem. Youth Studies, 8(1), 105–115.

13.

Finney

S. J.

DiStefano

(2013). Non-normal and categorical data in structural equation modeling. In Hancock

G. R.

Mueller

R. O.

(Eds.), Structural equation modeling: A second course (2nd ed.): Information Age.

14.

Gao

Lin

(2016). Sex discrimination and female top managers: Evidence from China. Journal of Business Ethics, 138(4), 683–702. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2892-x

15.

Gay

E. G.

Weiss

D. J.

Hendel

D. D.

Dawis

R. V.

Lofquist

L. H.

(1971). Manual for the Minnesota importance questionnaire. In Minnesota studies in vocational rehabilitation (Vol. 28, pp. 1-83). University of Minnesota, Industrial Relations Center.

16.

Gong

Wang

Yuan

Chen

(1999). The change of university students' work value: Based on two-wave surveys. Youth Studies, 19(7), 20–24.

17.

Gong

Yuan

Fan

(1995). Survey results of university students' work value. Research in Higher Education of Engineering, 4, 67–73.

18.

Guest

Namey

Chen

(2020). A simple method to assess and report thematic saturation in qualitative research. PLoS One, 15(5), e0232076. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0232076

19.

Hayes

A. F.

Coutts

J. J.

(2020). Use omega rather than Cronbach’s alpha for estimating reliability. Communication Methods and Measures, 14(1), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1080/19312458.2020.1718629

20.

Hitlin

Piliavin

J. A.

(2004). Values: Reviving a dormant concept. Annual Review of Sociology, 30(1), 359–393. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.30.012703.110640

21.

Hou

(2014). Work values of Chinese Millennial Generation: Structure, measurement and effects on employee performance. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 46(6), 823–840. https://doi.org/10.3724/SP.J.1041.2014.00823

22.

Bentler

(1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6, 1–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118

23.

Jin

Rounds

(2012). Stability and change in work values: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 80(2), 326–339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2011.10.007

24.

Jin

Wei

Liu

Zhang

(2020). Research on the relationship between the post-2000 university students' work values and their job preference. Studies in Ideological Education, 27(10), 124–128.

25.

Jin

(2005). The structure of college students’ work values: Intentions and instruments. Acta Psychological Sinica, 37(5), 650–657.

26.

Judge

T. A.

Bretz

R. D.

(1992). Effects of work values on job choice decisions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 77(3), 261–271. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.77.3.261

27.

Lam

W. R.

Schipke

(2017). State-owned enterprise reform. In Lam

W. R.

Rodlauer

Schipke

(Eds.), Modernizing China: Investing in soft infrastructure (pp. 307–332). International Monetary Fund.

28.

Lan

Okechuku

Zhang

Cao

(2013). Impact of job satisfaction and personal values on the work orientation of Chinese accounting practitioners. Journal of Business Ethics, 112(4), 627–640. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1562-5

29.

Landis

J. R.

Koch

G. G.

(1977). The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. Biometrics, 33(1), 159–174. https://doi.org/10.2307/2529310

30.

Levesque-Côté

J. L.

Fernet

Austin

Morin

A. J. S.

(2018). New wine in a new bottle: Refining the assessment of authentic leadership using exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM). Journal of Business and Psychology, 33, 611–628. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-017-9512-y

31.

(2020). Children of the reform and opening-up: China’s new generation and new era of development. The Journal of Chinese Sociology, 7(1), 18. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40711-020-00130-x

32.

Lin

(2002). Values of choosing a job among university graduate in Guangdong province. Higher Education Exploration, 3, 51–54.

33.

Ling

Fang

Bai

(1999). Study on the vocational value of Chinese undergraduates. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 31(3), 342–348.

34.

Liu

(2020). Job selection over time: Job preference of contemporary university students. Youth Exploration, 1, 15–24. https://doi.org/10.13583/j.cnki.issn1004-3780.2020.01.002

35.

Lou

Zhao

Zhou

Wang

(2002). Research on work values of university graduates in new era. China Higher Education Research, 8, 81–82. https://doi.org/10.16298/j.cnki.1004-3667.2002.08.041

36.

Zhang

Can

Wang

Zhang

Ferrier

R. C.

Jenkins

Yuan

Bailey

M. J.

Chen

Tian

von Weizsäcker

E. U.

Zhang

(2019). Forty years of reform and opening up: China’s progress toward a sustainable path. Science Advances, 5(8), eaau9413. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aau9413

37.

Marsh

Morin

Parker

Kaur

(2014). Exploratory structural equation modeling: An integration of the best features of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 10, 85–110. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032813-153700

38.

Zhang

(2024). The changes in work values of Chinese university students: A cross-temporal meta-analysis (2005∼2021). In Society for economic psychology of China annual conference. Shihezi City, China.

39.

National Bureau of Statistics . (2023). China population & employment statistical yearbook 2023: China Statistics Press.

40.

National Bureau of Statistics of China . (2024). Statistical database. https://data.stats.gov.cn/easyquery.htm?cn=C01

41.

NetEase . (2024). Ministry of education: 80.72% of examinees get in university in 2023, the expansion continues in 2024. https://www.163.com/dy/article/ISACM1PJ0552230G.html

42.

Nord

W. R.

Brief

A. P.

Atieh

J. M.

Doherty

E. M.

(1990). Studying meanings of work: The case of work values. In Brief

A. P.

Nord

W. R.

(Eds.), Meanings of occupational work (pp. 21–64): Lexington Books.

43.

Ralston

D. A.

Egri

C. P.

Karam

C. M.

P. P.

(2018). Changes in work values across the regions of China. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 35(1), 145–179. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-017-9519-y

44.

Robinson

C. H.

Betz

N. E.

(2008). A psychometric evaluation of super's work values inventory--revised. Journal of Career Assessment, 16(4), 456–473. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072708318903

45.

Rosso

B. D.

Dekas

K. H.

Wrzesniewski

(2010). On the meaning of work: A theoretical integration and review. Research in Organizational Behavior, 30, 91–127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.riob.2010.09.001

46.

Rounds

J. B.

Henley

G. A.

Dawis

R. V.

Lofquist

L. H.

Weiss

D. J.

(1981). Manual for the Minnesota importance questionnaire: A measure of vocational needs and values. Department of psychology, University of Minnesota.

47.

Sagiv

Roccas

Cieciuch

Schwartz

S. H.

(2017). Personal values in human life. Nature Human Behaviour, 1(9), 630–639. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-017-0185-3

48.

Schreurs

van Emmerik

I. H.

Van den Broeck

Guenter

(2014). Work values and work engagement within teams: The mediating role of need satisfaction. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 18(4), 267–281. https://doi.org/10.1037/gdn0000009

49.

Schwartz

S. H.

(1992). Universals in the content and structure of values: Theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 25, 1–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60281-6

50.

Schwartz

S. H.

Bardi

(2001). Value hierarchies across cultures: Taking a similarities perspective. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 32(3), 268–290. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022101032003002

51.

Steiner

M. D.

Grieder

S. G.

(2020). EFAtools: An R package with fast and flexible implementations of exploratory factor analysis tools. Journal of Open Source Software, 5(53), 2521. https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.02521

52.

Super

D. E.

(1970). Manual, work values inventory: Riverside Publishing.

53.

Swami

Maïano

Morin

A. J. S.

(2023). A guide to exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) and bifactor-ESEM in body image research. Body Image, 47, 101641. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2023.101641

54.

Tang

Wang

Zhang

(2017). Values of Chinese generation cohorts: Do they matter in the workplace? Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 143, 8–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2017.07.007

55.

Teng

Yin

(1989). Survey of university students’ work values. Education and Vocation, 2, 22–24. https://doi.org/10.13615/j.cnki.1004-3985.1989.02.005

56.

Twenge

J. M.

Campbell

S. M.

Hoffman

B. J.

Lance

C. E.

(2010). Generational differences in work values: Leisure and extrinsic values increasing, social and intrinsic values decreasing. Journal of Management, 36(5), 1117–1142. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206309352246

57.

Valero

Froidevaux

Zhang

González-López

M. J.

(2025). Work value profiles across cultures: An application of the multiple-group latent profile procedure in Switzerland, Spain, the United States and China. Career Development International, 30(1), 28–42. https://doi.org/10.1108/CDI-01-2024-0037

58.

Wei

(2015). The change of China undergraduate employment policy since the reform and opening: Based on the advocacy coalition framework. Journal of Higher Education, 36(5), 48–54.

59.

Willner

Lipshits-Braziler

Gati

(2020). Construction and initial validation of the work orientation questionnaire. Journal of Career Assessment, 28(1), 109–127. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072719830293

60.

Wrzesniewski

McCauley

Rozin

Schwartz

(1997). Jobs, careers, and callings: People’s relations to their work. Journal of Research in Personality, 31(1), 21–33. https://doi.org/10.1006/jrpe.1997.2162

61.

Xiao

Silva

E. A.

Zhang

(2020). Nine-nine-six work system and people’s movement patterns: Using big data sets to analyse overtime working in Shanghai. Land Use Policy, 90, 104340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.104340

62.

Zhao

(1994). Job choice of university students. Youth Studies, 14(12), 1–3.

63.

Yin

Dai

Jin

(2000). Research on college students' occupations and occupational values through questionnaire method. Psychological Development and Education, 4, 38–43. https://doi.org/10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2000.04.007

64.

Yin

(2009). An investigation of job values of contemporary college students. Psychological Science, 32(6), 1521–1523. https://doi.org/10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.2009.06.06

65.

Yip

(2021). China steps in to regulate brutal ‘996’ work culture. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-58381538

66.

Zhang

Chen

(2024). A quantitative analysis on Hukou reform and city-level Hukou registration carrier: 1996—2024. China Economic Quarterly, 24(6), 1781–1797. https://doi.org/10.13821/j.cnki.ceq.2024.06.05

67.

Zhaopin . (2024). Survey report of university students' employability. https://pan.baidu.com/s/1ZfHSiPhUE96hLIQ0hBr8Qg?pwd=kcp4#list/path=%2F&parentPath=%2F

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.32 MB