| Status | 已發表Published |
| Are you willing to do it? Performing dirty work in the Chinese context | |
Lai, Y. M.; Lam, L. W. 
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| 2014-06-01 | |
| Source Publication | The 6th International Association for Chinese Management Research Conference
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| Abstract | Dirty work refers to occupations that are physically, socially, and morally tainted (Hughes, 1951). It encompasses those occupations that most of us do not aspire to be involved and prefer others to engage in (Ashforth & Kreiner, 1999). The "dark side" of such work environment has been revealed after the pioneer work of Hughes (1958) in his book entitled “Men and their work”. More recent work by Kreiner, Ashforth, and Sluss (2006) has argued that dirty work permeates a wide range of occupations, including those that are not typically categorized as dirty, suggesting that the issue of dirty work is deeper than expected. While one may believe that financial incentives may make up for the displeasing feeling of performing dirty work, extant research has shown that employees may suffer from emotional and identity problems in these industries (Ashforth & Kreiner, 1999; Ashforth, Kreiner, Clark, & Fugate, 2007; Lai, Chan, & Lam, 2012). For example, Lai et al. (2012) found that employees who perceived high levels of moral dirtiness in their work were more likely to be disidentified with their occupation as well as their organization. Although most research on dirty work has been conducted in the West, the uniqueness of Chinese context has made the study of dirty work in China fascinating. There, and in other Chinese societies, traditional values still exert considerable influence on Chinese people (Kulich & Zhang, 2010). Chinese unique cultural values encompass “diverse and sometimes competing schools of thought, including Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, etc., and a host of regional cultures” (Fan, 2000, p. 5). On the other hand, China presents a dynamic cultural and economic environment (see Tsui, 2012), in which different social forces come together to shape people’s perceptions and views on dirty work. Such a context presents substantial empirical and theoretical challenges for researchers to understand the development and change of social stigma pertaining to dirty work. In this presentation, we will provide an overview of dirty work in terms of the construct and research questions. We will also address what has been done within and outside China about dirty work, and propose how traditional Chinese values may serve as two opposing forces in influencing an individual’s perception of work dirtiness and eventually whether Chinese employees will accept or reject dirty jobs. The study of dirty work in China can advance our understanding of the development of various important yet negative employees' attitudes and behaviors such as disidentification, negative work identity, deviant behaviors, counter-productive work behaviors, withdrawal, silence, etc, so that suitable preventive tactics can be adopted to unfold the “bright side” of the “dark side”. |
| Keyword | Dirty work Chinese culture occupational disidentification |
| Language | 英語English |
| The Source to Article | PB_Publication |
| PUB ID | 25639 |
| Document Type | Conference paper |
| Collection | DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING |
| Corresponding Author | Lam, L. W. |
| Recommended Citation GB/T 7714 | Lai, Y. M.,Lam, L. W.. Are you willing to do it? Performing dirty work in the Chinese context[C], 2014. |
| APA | Lai, Y. M.., & Lam, L. W. (2014). Are you willing to do it? Performing dirty work in the Chinese context. The 6th International Association for Chinese Management Research Conference. |
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