Title: A comparative study of meaning of working and work values in developed and developing countries

Authors: Elena Zavyalova; Anna Akinshina; Alexandre Ardichvili; K. Peter Kuchinke; Maria Cseh; Zsolt Nemeskéri; Urmat M. Tynaliev

Addresses: Graduate School of Management, St. Petersburg State University, Dekabristov Pereulok 16, St. Petersburg, 199155, Russia. ' Graduate School of Management, St. Petersburg State University, Dekabristov Pereulok 16, St. Petersburg, 199155, Russia. ' Department of Organisational Leadership, Policy and Development, University of Minnesota, 310E Wulling Hall, 86 Pleasant Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. ' Education Policy, Organisation and Leadership, University of Illinois, 355 Education Building, 1310 S. 6th St. MC 708, Champaign, IL 61820, USA. ' Human and Organizational Learning (HOL) Department, Graduate School of Education and Human Development, The George Washington University, 2134 G Street, NW, Room 215, Washington, DC 20052, USA. ' Faculty of Adult Education and Human Resource Development, University of Pécs, H-7633 Pécs, Szántó Kovács János u. 1/b., Hungary. ' Central Asian Faculty Development Programme, University of Central Asia, 138-138A Toktogul Street, 720001 Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic

Abstract: This article presents the results of a comparative study of the meaning of work and work values in developed capitalist and developing post-socialist countries. The authors utilised the meaning of working (MOW) methodology. The study sample consisted of 724 respondents from five countries: Hungary, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Germany and the USA. The value of work in relation to other life domains differed among countries: for Hungary and Russia, the value of work came after family and leisure, while in other countries work took second place in importance after family. Moreover, in Hungary and Russia overall value of work was significantly lower than in other countries. The items that differentiated between developed (Germany and the USA) and developing countries (Hungary, Russia, Kyrgyzstan) are: importance of income, status, interesting contacts, and interesting work. For the cluster of developing countries, the value of these items was significantly lower, signifying a presence of avoidance motivation that is opposite to achievement motivation.

Keywords: meaning of working; MOW; post-socialist countries; transition economies; Russia; Kyrgyzstan; Hungary; Germany; United States; USA; work values; developing countries; developed countries; avoidance motivation; achievement motivation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTIS.2011.042658

International Journal of Transitions and Innovation Systems, 2011 Vol.1 No.3, pp.207 - 227

Published online: 30 Sep 2014 *

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