Youth Future Orientation and Leadership: Empirical Evidence From the U.S. and Japan

• In Event: Bridging Generations for Youth Leadership Development

Short Description

Empirical GLOBE-tied surveys on future orientation conducted among young people in the U.S. and Japan display distinctions between practices and values, as well as between youth and adults, and predict a mix of visionary and team-based leadership styles among Japanese young people and stronger visionary leadership styles among American youth.

Detailed Abstract

The purpose of this research is to advance our understanding of future orientation as a key cultural attribute of Western and Eastern societies, and relate future orientation to leadership behaviors perceived as effective in those cultures. The study focuses on cultural attributes of young people in the United States and in Japan, and is based on the empirical data collected by the authors in two countries followed by the analysis of findings per internationally recognized cross-cultural methodology.

Theoretical background of the study interprets future orientation, the basic value orientation of all cultures (Kluckhohn & Strodebeck 1961; Hofstede 2001; Trompenaars & Hampden 1998), as the degree to which collectivity encourages and rewards future-oriented behaviors such as planning and delaying gratification. Future oriented members of a society or organization believe that their current actions will influence their future, focus on investment in the future, believe in planning for developing their future, and look far into the future to assess the effects of their current actions (Ashkanasy et al. 2004, 285). While this value orientation develops during childhood and adolescence, adult attitudes reflect the impact of society and culture (economic conditions, level of education, gender roles and religion).

The cross-cultural researches have shown that future orientation has statistically significant relationships with Charismatic/Value-based leadership, one of the determinants of effective leadership across counties and cultures (House et al 2004, 24). Visionary leadership behaviors, with anticipation of the future and the development of goals and plans, are more evident in future oriented societies. However, the perception of effective leadership in societies with lower future orientation lean to the team-oriented styles (Ashkanasy et al. 2004, 331).

This study addressed the following key research questions. In both the United States and Japan, are future orientation behaviors and values among youth different from those among adult respondents? How different are the levels of youth future orientation in two countries and relative to a broader international context? And can we view future orientation as a predictor of youth leadership behaviors perceived as effective in each society?

In response to these research questions the authors surveyed high school students in the United States and Japan and created their future orientation profiles. The design of the questionnaire followed the methodology and survey items of the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) research (House et al. 2004), which permitted the comparison of findings to broader GLOBE-tied profiles of societal cultures of both countries. The data displayed scores on perceived behaviors (“as is”) and values (“should be”), and items were measured on a 7-point Lickert scale. The questionnaire items were consistent with the original GLOBE survey and addressed “as is” and “should be” questions about the importance of planning in successful schooling, planning school gatherings in advance, horizon of problem-solving, and living for the future vs. living for the present. Since the questionnaire was offered in English (in the U.S.) and in Japanese (in Japan) languages, back and forth translation procedures secured the consistency of survey items across cultures.

The surveys targeted high school students in the Tokyo region in Japan in July 2016 and in the state of Illinois in the United States in October-November 2016. 77 valid responses were collected from Japanese students and 99 responses from American students at the sophomore, junior and senior levels. The average age of respondents in both countries was 17 years. In response to the cultural sensitivity of the survey, questionnaires were designed as anonymous and requested minimal personal identifying data from respondents.

In this study, Japanese high school students displayed future orientation behavior score (“as is”, 4.38) close to adults (slightly higher), but much higher than 62-societies’ average (3.8), and higher than Japanese adults (4.29) and American youth (3.93) and adults (4.15). However, Japanese high school students displayed lower values-tied scores ("should be", 4.47) than Japanese adults (5.25) and U.S. youth (4.78) and adults (5.31) and visibly lower scores than 62-societies’ average (5.51).

In their common behaviors and institutional practices, Japanese students are oriented on and encourage future actions and results, connect present activities to the future and express concern about an imagined future environment. These results lead to optimistic predictions about successful entries into careers and strategic activities; and about the societal value’s contribution to visionary leadership behaviors. However, value-based data suggests that the surveyed Japanese students tend to prioritize traditions, roots in the past, and the importance of the present, meaning that the relations-oriented value system imposes constraints on the future oriented actions, and contributes to team-oriented leadership styles.

This visible gap in future orientation scores explain frictions in Japanese youth’ responses to the challenges of the future and reliance on societal networks in creating the future. Hence, there is a mixed impact on perceived leadership styles with combining effects on value-based/charismatic leadership and team-based leadership.

American high school students displayed future orientation behavior score lower than American adults, and lower than both Japanese youth and adults, at the level close to average score for 62 societies. While American youth’ value-tied score was lower than American and Japanese adults and 62-societies’ average for adults, this score was visibly higher than their Japanese teenagers.

The interpretation of these scores for American youth suggests relatively lower awareness about the future events and lower contribution of future orientation cultural attribute to visionary leadership styles. However, a comparison of values-tied results attests to relatively higher importance of visionary leadership relative to team-based behaviors when compared to their Japanese counterparts. This confirms a greater importance of culture-bound team-based behaviors in the Japanese society compared to the United States.

The study revealed important findings about the Japanese and American youth’s perceptions about their future orientation, permitted comparisons with the findings about adult populations in the respected countries, and permitted comparisons of results across cultures. It supported hypotheses that distinctions in future orientation between American and Japanese young people stem from the uniqueness of their national cultures, and variations in leadership style perceived as effective in each country stem from those distinctions.

Participants

• Anastasia Gracheva, Columbia University

• Aleksandra Gracheva, Stanford University