The intergenerational reproduction of self-direction at work: Revisiting Class and Conformity.

In his path-breaking monograph, Class and Conformity , Melvin Kohn reasoned that parents prepare their children for the same conditions of work that they themselves experience. Kohn and his colleagues' research focused on the influence of parental self-direction at work on parental child-rearing val...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Social Forces Vol. 104; no. 1; pp. 320 - 341
Autores principales: Burger, Kaspar, Mele, Francesca, Johnson, Monica Kirkpatrick, Mortimer, Jeylan, Han, Xiaowen
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Oxford University Press / USA Sep2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=186811207&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: ssf
    uiTerm: 186811207
    longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson)
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        00377732
        SFR
      jtl: Social Forces
      issn: 00377732
      maglogo: N
    pubinfo:
      dt: Sep2025
      vid: 104
      iid: 1
      pid: 622
      pub: Oxford University Press / USA
    artinfo:
      ui:
        186811207
        10.1093/sf/soaf016
      ppf: 320
      ppct: 21
      formats:
        fmt:
          – @attributes:
              type: T
          – @attributes:
              type: P
              size: 982KB
      tig:
        atl: The intergenerational reproduction of self-direction at work: Revisiting Class and Conformity.
      aug:
        au:
          Burger, Kaspar
          Mele, Francesca
          Johnson, Monica Kirkpatrick
          Mortimer, Jeylan
          Han, Xiaowen
        affil:
          Department of Education, University of Potsdam, Campus Golm, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24-25, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
          Department of Social Sciences, University of Luxembourg, 2, place de l'Université, 4365 Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
          Jacobs Center for Productive Youth Development, University of Zurich, Andreasstrasse 15, 8050 Zurich, Switzerland
          Social Research Institute, Institute of Education, University College London, 55-59 Gordon Square, WC1H 0AL London, United Kingdom
          Department of Sociology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164-4020, United States of America
          Department of Sociology, University of Minnesota, 267 19th Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55455, United States of America
      su:
        Social status
        Parental influences
        Social psychology
        Mental orientation
        Structural equation modeling
        Youth development
      sug:
        subj:
          Social status
          Parental influences
          Social psychology
          Mental orientation
          Structural equation modeling
          Youth development
      keyword:
        inequality/social stratification
        life course
        social psychology
        work/labor process
        inequality/social stratification
        life course
        social psychology
        work/labor process
      ab: In his path-breaking monograph, Class and Conformity , Melvin Kohn reasoned that parents prepare their children for the same conditions of work that they themselves experience. Kohn and his colleagues' research focused on the influence of parental self-direction at work on parental child-rearing values and practices, as well as the self-directed values of children. The intergenerational transmission of occupational self-direction from parents to the succeeding generation of adult children, strongly implied by Kohn's analysis, has not been empirically tested. Using two-generation longitudinal data from the Youth Development Study (N  = 1139), we estimate a structural equation model to assess the intergenerational continuity of occupational self-direction. We find evidence supporting a key inference of Kohn's analysis: that self-direction at work, a primary feature of jobs of higher social class standing, is transmitted across generations via self-directed psychological orientations, operationalized here as intrinsic work values. Intrinsic values also significantly predicted second-generation educational attainment, contributing further to the reproduction of socioeconomic inequality. The findings enhance understanding of the intergenerational transmission of advantage.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
    refInfo:
    copyright:
      @attributes:
        flag: N
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N