Tsinghua University

The Influence of Materialism on Chinese and

South Korean undergraduates’ career planning Tu hua• Liu zhenni • Ma Yangyi

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Abstract

Materialism is a way of thinking that gives too much importance to material possessions

rather than to spiritual or intellectual things. People with materialistic tendency usually regard

property as center of life, pursuit happiness through the acquisition of property, and define

success by amount of property. Affected by materialism, the professional values of some

undergraduates were distorted, whose career choices and value pursuits are more and more

utilitarian. Our research is based on 200 questionnaires filled by 100 undergraduates from

Tsinghua University and another half from Seoul University, and according to our research,

Chinese and South Korean students had different choices after graduation but both of them

showed materialistic tendencies, which were manifested in excessive demands on the working

environment and salary, the connection between salary and the sense of happiness and

achievement, etc. Thus, we suggest that both countries should help students set up the

scientific professional values.

Key words: materialism, career planning, Chinese and Korean undergraduates

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Table of Contents

I. Introduction: ............................................................................................................................. 3

II. Literature Review： ...................................................................................................... 4

III. Research Methods： ...................................................................................................... 6

IV. Result and Discussion ................................................................................................... 8

V. Feasibility Suggestions ....................................................................................................... 15

VI. Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 17

VII. Appendix .......................................................................................................................... 18

1. Questionnaire ................................................................................................................ 18

2. Research division ......................................................................................................... 20

3. References ....................................................................................................................... 22

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I. Introduction:

Materialism is a way of thinking that gives too much importance to material possessions

rather than to spiritual or intellectual things, and the professional values of contemporary

students refer to their attitudes and perceptions towards career planning. Affected by

materialism, the professional values of some undergraduates were distorted, whose career

choices and value pursuits are more and more utilitarian. "High economic income" and

"conducive to personal development" has become the two most prominent criteria for some

undergraduates in their career evaluation and career planning.

With the expansion of enrollment scale of journalism major but decline of news industry

threshold, however, the employment rate of students in school of journalism has been taking

on a decreasing tendency in recent years. The prominent problem of undergraduates' high

unemployment rate is closely related to the dislocation of professional values affected by

materialism during the transition period.

This passage is trying to figure out to what extent materialism influenced

undergraduates' professional values in Tsinghua University and Seoul University, and going to

provide some guidance for them to build scientific professional values.

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II. Literature Review：

1. Connotation of materialism

In the research about Connotation of materialism several scholars have difference ideas:

Scholar like Belk, who reflected materialism, seen as individual personalities, think that

materialism include envy, nongenerosity, possessiveness and collecting 4 qualities.1 Further,

Ger and Belk in cross-cultural studies, complement 4th personality traits Preservation, that is,

through material forms retain the events, experiences, and memories.2 Richins and Dawson

think materialism is that in different context, guide individual values of choice and action, and

it appeared when individual recognize different subjects have different relative importance.

Further, they subdivided materialism into 3 dimensions: centrality, happiness, success. 3

A political sociologist Inglehart thinks that concepts of materialism and post materialism

play an important role in the world. He based on the world values survey rounds of results

and found that there are 2 main cultural dimensions: 1st dimension is "traditional authority"

and the "modernization of secular-rational authority” dimension. The former emphasized the

importance of subject to traditional authority and the later emphasized the rule of law and the

1 BELK R W．Materialism: trait aspects of living in the material world［J］．Journal of Consume research，1985(12): 265-280．

2 GERG，BELKR．Cross-cultural differences in materialism［J］．Journal of Economic Psychology，1996，17(1): 55-77．

3 RICHINSML，DAWSONS．A consumer values orientation for materialism and its measurement: scale development and

validation［J］．Journal of Consume research，1992，19: 303-316

5 / 23

reasonable authority. The 2nd dimension is a "survival" and “postmodern of self-expression"

dimensions, including "materialism" and "post-materialism" contrast.

2. Effects of materialism

In the research we can find the effects of materialism: Li Yuan4 found that materialistic

values encourage individuals pay more attention to social comparison and it became a basis

for the establishment of self-concept and self-worth. When the results of social comparison

make individuals at a disadvantage statue, it will have a strong sense of loss, show negative

psychological and behavioral consequences. Self-esteem is that an integrated estimation and

evaluation of the ability for its own oneself, and this kind of evaluation have important effects

on human development. Baumeister and others found that being high self-esteem people from

the positive aspects of their own, when they face to failure more confident and able to use

policy to improve the environment. On the other hand, being low self-esteem people are often

the ability to show the suspect. 5

3.Gender differences in materialism:

Materialistic values whether there are gender differences, researchers still did not reach a

4 李原． 物质主义价值观与幸福感和人际信任的关系研究［J］． 华中师范大学学报: 人文社会科学版，2014(6) :175-180

5 BAUMEISTERRF，CAMPBELLJD，KRUEGERJI．Does high self-esteem cause better performance，interpersonal success，

happiness，or healthier life［J］．Psychological Science in the Public Interest，2003(4): 1-44

6 / 23

consensus. Richins and Dawson College students as subjects groups, finding material value

there is no significant difference in gender,6 Burroughs and others validate this view.

7 But

Browne and Kaldenberg's research, however, shows that men in materialistic values scale

scores as well as success, happiness 2 dimension was significantly higher than that of women,

while women scored significantly higher than those of the core dimensions of male.8

In the process of finding references, there have not been found scholars who discuss the

relationship between materialism and the professional values that is the reason why we have

made this research.

III. Research Methods：

This passage adopts the research method combining theory with demonstration; the main

research method is as follows：

1. Documentation method

Refer to some literal references and materials through the library system and the Internet.

2. Questionnaires method

6 RICHINSML，DAWSONS．A consumer values orientation for materialism and its measurement: scale development and

validation［J］．Journal of Consume research，1992，19: 303-316 7 BURROUGHSJE，ＲINDFLEISCHA．Materialism and well-being: a conflicting values perspective［J］．Journal of Consume

research，2002(29): 348-370． 8 BROWNEBA，KALDENBEＲGDO．Conceptualizing self-monitoring: links to materialism and product involvement

［J］．Journal of Consumer Marketing，1997(14): 31-44

7 / 23

Design a questionnaire about their professional attitudes and behaviors based on

previous research of documentation, and distribute the questionnaires among undergraduates

in Tsinghua University and Seoul University.

Our questions are divided into three types: single-choice, multiple-choice questions and

tabular values. The score of the table corresponds to the value of the performance of

materialism and the more materialistic you are and the higher score you will get. In all kinds

of studies on materialism, research results vary widely with the gender, age, intergenerational,

educational level and other factors, so we asked about gender and grade of the interviewer in

the questionnaire.

In studying the impact of materialism on career planning, we have mainly thought of

these points: 1) In choosing a job, it is not active employment but postponement of

employment or passive employment that undergraduates prefer. The reason why they choose

to be postgraduates is to gain more employment opportunities. 2) In The different

classification of news professional career, we want to find the connection of different jobs and

materialism. 3) In choosing working environment and salary, people with materialistic

tendencies usually have excessive demands. 4) On the influence of the materialism on sense

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of happiness and achievement, the amount of poverty decides these index.

3. Comparative method

After recovering questionnaires, take out the statistics and analyze them in a comparative

perspective, make lists and draw figures to show the differences directly.

IV. Result and Discussion

In the past several weeks, we asked 100 Chinese undergraduates and 100 South

Korean‟s to fulfill our questionnaire, 25 students in each grade. The ratio of male to female

was 2:3. Our findings are as follows.

1.Chinese and South Korean students’ plans after graduation differed a lot.

At the very beginning of our questionnaire, we asked about their plans after graduation.

For Chinese students, the highest proportion of plan after graduation was studying for a

master degree, at 36%, followed by studying aboard, at 23%, and the figures for going to

work directly was respectively lower, at 19% (22% of them hadn‟t decided yet.). While for

Korean students, the proportion of going to work directly was extremely high, at 80%, with

only a few students choose the rest choices. (seen in chart 1)

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This was quite interesting because we designed this question to find the connection

between plan after graduation and materialism at first. For example, for students who choose

to study for a master degree, whether they want to learn about more knowledge of major or

just want better educational background for getting better job means differently for

confirming their materialistic tendency. It turned out that 40% of them studied for a better

work and the rest want to learn more knowledge.

chart 1

2. Both Chinese and South Korean students showed materialistic tendency.

(1) Most of college students had a high expectation for salary in the future.

From the chart we can see that almost half of the Korean students believe that they can

earn over 2000000 WON per month. Compared with Korean, most Chinese students modestly

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

study for a masterdegree

study aboard go to work haven't decided yet

Plan after graduation

Chinese students Soth Korean students

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choose the expectation of 5000 to 10000, while in fact, this level of pay is still a little higher

than the general pay in the labor market.

chart 2

(2) Interests and salary have become the most important factors in career planning.

From the chart we can see it clearly that interest and salary make up the most 2

influential factors in the decision of choosing occupation. Chinese students seem to prefer

interest a little bit more than Korean students, while Korean students regard the status of the

two factors as almost equally important. Besides, the opportunities that students can gain

from their work are meaningful to students of both nationalities as well. It is natural to

conclude from these data that when students choose their jobs, their decisions are mostly

made for their own goods, regardless of the purpose for the direct financial profit or the

potential development in the future.

1% 19%

35%

45%

(Unit: WON)

50w-100w 100w-150w

150w-200w over 200w

0% 11%

68%

21%

(Unit: RMB)

1000-3000 3000-5000

5000-10000 over 10000

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chart 3

(3) The score of the table was above the average.

As what mentioned above, since we designed these questions according to the meaning

of materialism, the score of the table corresponded to the value of the performance of

materialism. The more materialistic you were; the higher score you would get. In the next

graph, almost every score is higher than average score 3, showing their materialistic tendency.

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Developmentopportunity

Salary Interest Suitability ofmajor

Others

Which factor influenced you most when choosing a job?

Chinese South Korean

Arguments Chinese Korean

I want to work in a big city rather than a provincial city． 4.07 4.15

I want to get employed in large enterprises rather than medium-sized or

small enterprises. 3.8 3.86

In my case, company benefits and working environment are really

important. 3.85 4.14

The main purpose of my work is to obtain wealth. 3.53 3.76

When hobbies and pay levels conflict, I will choose higher-paid jobs. 3.09 3.11

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3. Gender and grade didn’t differ a lot in this questionnaire

We did a collection of their basic information on the grade and gender recognition,

which was mainly for the future study of different grades and gender differences in the

materialism. According to our questionnaire, however, different genders and grades didn‟t

vary sharply on their tendency of materialism——their scores of each question were rather

similar.

After analyze the data, we learned that the scholars integrated the requirements

related to professional value attributes into four dimensions: security needs, family

needs, development needs and respect needs. These four dimensions are not only a

combination of people's material needs and spiritual needs, but also a combination of

I think the amount of wealth in employment is a sign of success. 3.1 3.02

If I can afford to buy more things with higher salaries, I will be happier. 3.81 3.77

To measure the level of wages, it is important to compare with people

around me. 3.12 2.86

Thinking of the future of employment trends, I often feel anxious, and

even afraid that I may not be able to get a good job. 3.6 3.69

I often compare my classmates' internship resources with mine, and I will

feel jealous if their work environment and salaries are better than mine. 2.91 3.54

When I get a good internship resource, I am willing to share it with my

classmates. 2.81 3.27

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personal pursuit and social value requirements. The formation of professional values is a

process of matching the internal needs of people and professional needs between each

other and achieving a coordinated. The formation and development of the process need

a very long period. In addition to being affected by the individual's life experience,

knowledge structure, ability level and cognitive maturity, the formation process is bound

to be affected by external environmental conditions. The formation of adolescents'

professional values is not only based on internal factors such as personality type, career

interest, knowledge accumulation, ability and quality, but also based on attachment to

family, social environment, family environment, school education, growth experience,

accidental event, friend influence and other objective reality.

As the saying goes: social existence determines social consciousness, social

consciousness affects social existence. Undergraduates' professional values are rooted in

social existence, which is a concrete reflection of different social consciousness.

Therefore, it will inevitably reflect social, political, economic, cultural and educational

background under specific historical conditions. Nowadays, Chinese social Ideology has

been showing a general tendency of materialism. Therefore, under the influence of social

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consciousness, the professional values of college students are in a great extent

influenced by materialism. More specifically, influenced by the family environment,

growth experience, friends and family and the impact of social events, young people's

professional values in considering the security needs will choose large enterprises in

order to pursue stable work; in considering the family needs will choose higher income

work; in considering the development needs and the respect needs will use the wage

level as a measure of success criteria.

In addition, due to the simple college life, most undergraduates are lacking the

exploration and awareness of the professional world. Therefore, on their understanding

of the professional attributes and evaluation level, it is difficult to really make the

objective and correct choice as the real workers who have the professional experience

for their future career direction, their choice must be blind and not objective. For this

reason, the students also don’t have a clear understanding of the specific occupational

classification. They do not know how many options for the future career are waiting for

them, and they are full of unknown and fear about the choice direct employment for this

choice going to work directly.

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V. Feasibility Suggestions

1. Chinese universities should pay more attention to career planning

education for undergraduates.

First of all, we suggest that Chinese universities should learn from Korea. They

should strength the "Guidance and Employment" courses in the overall quality

education for undergraduates, and taking the aim "helping students to establish a

correct sense of employment" as their educational objectives, to guide students to

establish correct employment awareness and to reduce the negative impact that social

materialism ideology brought to students. At the same time, they should not only

establish students’ good quality in the work that hard working and not fame and fortune,

but also encourage students to start from the grassroots. Last but not the least, the

universities can set up courses about "career planning" for undergraduates and provide

correct concept of employment to students through lectures, student activities and other

forms.

2. Universities should have a clearer distinction among different degrees of

students in their training objectives.

The universities should strengthen the students’ ability of working directly and adapting

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to the social. Meanwhile they should streamline the number of postgraduate and

improve the standards of recruiting postgraduate students.

3. Universities should guide and encourage students to participate in the

practices that related to future employment.

Through the practices, the students can have a more objectively and intelligently

understanding to their employment competency, and it is also helpful for them to have a

more objective and clear understanding of the classification of the job and the needs of

the society. And it can also help them to make the right and reasonable career planning

in the further. What’s more, the practice can help students find their hobbies, follow

their heart and choose their own real interested job. Students will also learn more

meaning about the participation in employment, recognizing that except harvesting

wealth, there are other more important significances for working.

4. Universities should focus on cultivating students' interests.

Universities should guide students to explore their own characteristics. We suggest

that universities should take advantage of the students’ personality, take professional

training as the target, and provide more suitable career development opportunities for

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students.

5. Undergraduates should be proactive in preparing for the upcoming

employment options.

We think students should initiatively understand the current status of professional

society. They should not only recognize their own ability level, but also actively improve

their professional standards and employment competitiveness. Meanwhile they should

improve their ability of independent entrepreneurship, try to enter the society positively

after graduate from the university.

6. Undergraduates should be able to recognize their level of competence.

We think college undergraduates should have a clear evaluation to their own

employability, and avoid blind arrogant.

VI. Conclusion

Affected by materialism, the professional values of some undergraduates were distorted.

In this research, we have found that both Chinese and South Korean students have

materialistic tendencies in career planning, but unfortunately, we didn‟t clarify the connection

of specific career options and materialism. Based on these performances of materialism, we

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suggest guidance from family, schools, and society. Undergraduates themselves should

cultivate the spirit of hard work.

VII. Appendix

1. Questionnaire:

1. What grade are you in now?

① Freshman

② Sophomore

③ Junior

④ Senior

2. Are you?

① Lady

② Gentleman

3. What is your plan after graduation?

① Study for a master's degree

② study abroad

③ Find a job

④ Others

4. Why did you choose „Study for a

master‟s degree‟ or „Go study abroad‟?

① Quest for more knowledge of major

② Get greater educational background for

getting better job

5. Why did you choose „Find a job‟?

① To apply what I have learned to

practice

② To have a steady income

6. What is your plan when getting a job?

① Continue work in communication and

Journalism field

② Find other fields

7. What do you want to do in

Communication and Journalism field?

① Journalist , reporter

② Making films

③ Marketing

④ Advanced study

⑤ others

8. What kind of media do you want to

choose?

① Traditional media

② Broadcast media

③ New media

9. What kind or films do you prefer?

① Commercial films

② Art films

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10. Which factor influences you most when

choosing a job?

① development opportunity

② salary

③ personal interest

④ suitability of major

11. How much do you expect to be paid

per month?

① 1000~3000(元)

② 3000~5000(元)

③ 5000~10000(元)

④ Over10000(元)

12. I want to work in a big city rather than

a provincial city．

① Much disagree

② Disagree

③ Neutral

④ Agree

⑤ Much agree

13. I want to work in large enterprises

rather than medium-sized and small

enterprises.

① Much disagree

② Disagree

③ Neutral

④ Agree

⑤ Much agree

14. In my case, company benefits and

working environment is really important.

① Much disagree

② Disagree

③ Neutral

④ Agree

⑤ Much agree

15. The main purpose of my work is to

obtain wealth

① Much disagree

② Disagree

③ Neutral

④ Agree

⑤ Much agree

16. When hobbies and pay levels conflict, I

will choose higher-paid jobs.

① Much disagree

② Disagree

③ Neutral

④ Agree

⑤ Much agree

17. I think the amount of wealth in

employment is a sign of success.

① Much disagree

② Disagree

③ Neutral

④ Agree

⑤ Much agree

18. If I can afford to buy more things with

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higher salaries, I will be happier

① Much disagree

② Disagree

③ Neutral

④ Agree

⑤ Much agree

19. For me, to measure the level of wages,

it is important to compare with people

around me.

① Much disagree

② Disagree

③ Neutral

④ Agree

⑤ Much agree

20. Thinking of the future of employment

trends, I often feel anxious, and even afraid

that I will not have a good job.

① Much disagree

② Disagree

③ Neutral

④ Agree

⑤ Much agree

21. I often compare my classmates'

internship resources with mine, and I will

feel jealous if their work environment and

salaries are better than what I have.

① Much disagree

② Disagree

③ Neutral

④ Agree

⑤ Much agree

22. When I get a good internship resource,

I am willing to share it with my classmates.

① Much disagree

② Disagree

③ Neutral

④ Agree

⑤ Much agree

2. Research division

① Tu Hua（涂画，Chinese）:

Research planning

Questionnaire design

Midterm report: Presentation and write the section of research methods and

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procedures.

Final Report: Presentation and write the section of abstract, introduction,

research methods, result, conclusion.

② Jennie Yoo (柳珍妮，Korean)

Research planning

Translated questionnaire into English and Korean

Distribute and collect the questionnaire to Seoul National University

Midterm report: Made PPT and Editing report, Question &Answer

Final Report: Made PPT and write the literature review, Editing report

③ Ma Yangyi(马阳艺，Chinese）：

Research planning

Results prediction & reason analysis

Midterm report: Presentation prepare and write, Questionnaire translation

Final Report: Cause Analysis & Feasibility Suggestions

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3. References

1. BELKRW．Materialism: trait aspects of living in the material world［J］．Journal

of Consume research，1985(12): 265-280．

2. GERG，BELKR．Cross-cultural differences in materialism［J］．Journal of

Economic Psychology，1996，17(1): 55-77．

3. RICHINSML，DAWSONS．A consumer values orientation for materialism and its

measurement: scale development and validation［J］．Journal of Consume research，

1992，19: 303-316

4. 李原． 物质主义价值观与幸福感和人际信任的关系研究［J］． 华中师范大

学学报: 人文社会科学版，2014(6) :175-180

5. BAUMEISTERRF，CAMPBELLJD，KRUEGERJI．Does high self-esteem cause

better performance ， interpersonal success ， happiness ， or healthier life

［J］．Psychological Science in the Public Interest，2003(4): 1-44

6. RICHINSML，DAWSONS．A consumer values orientation for materialism and its

measurement: scale development and validation［J］．Journal of Consume research，

1992，19: 303-316

23 / 23

7. BURROUGHSJE，RINDFLEISCHA．Materialism and well-being: a conflicting

values perspective［J］．Journal of Consume research，2002(29): 348-370．

8. BOWNEBA，KALDENBEＲGDO．Conceptualizing self-monitoring: links to

materialism and product involvement［J］．Journal of Consumer Marketing，

1997(14): 31-44

9. 李原. 物质的追求能否带来快乐与幸福——物质主义价值观及其影响研究[J].

北京工业大学学报(社会科学版),2015,04:7-12.

10. 李静,郭永玉. 物质主义价值观量表在大学生群体中的修订[J]. 心理与行为研

究,2009,04:280-283.

11. 周锋. 当代大学生职业价值观研究[D].河北师范大学,2015.

12. 安静. 新形势下我国大学生职业价值观研究[D].河北师范大学,2008.

13. 杨晨欣,尚月丰. 新闻类本科生的专业认同和就业期待调查——以武汉市 5 所

高校为例[J]. 新闻研究导刊,2016,04:284-285.

14. 李 韧 , 刘 飞 飞 . 新 闻 学 子 就 业 前 景 的 实 证 分 析 [J]. 新 闻 研 究 导

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