The Psychological Effects of Traditional and of Economically Peripheral Job Settings in Japan

Abstract

This article examines how working in a traditional industry and in an economically peripheral sector of the economy affects Japanese workers' attitudes toward their places in the socioeconomic system as well as their broader psychological functioning. In support of long-held sociological theories, the article indicates that workers in traditional industries not only have more traditional moral values but are less alienated and more comfortable with themselves and their positions in society than workers in modern industries. More unexpectedly, working in the periphery decreases ideational flexibility while increasing personally responsible standards of morality. As hypothesized, the most powerful work effects are those of occupational self-direction, which continues to increase levels of intellectual flexibility and self-directed orientations even when traditionalism and peripheralness are controlled. Occupational self-direction also strongly decreases alienation and increases identification with higher social strata while being reciprocally increased by positive attitudes toward one's work.