Medgyesi, Márton
Job Security and Satisfaction at Work:
Changes between 1989 and 1997

In this paper we investigated how workers' opinion about the importance of secure job has changed during the transition and also how workers' evaluation about job security was modified. Finally, we have attempted to assess the effect of job security on job satisfaction. Data were taken from the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) Work Orientation Module from 1989 and 1997. Our results, which have been derived by using the ordered logit model, show that employees perceive their work to be less secure in the post-transition period. This view is generally held among workers, but the decrease in perceived job security differs among worker groups. The differences reflect the actual labour market position and the change in this position as we expected. As far as the importance of job security is concerned, our results show that a positive relationship exists between the importance of high pay and the importance of job security. Moreover, this relationship was stronger in 1997 than in the pre-transition subsample. We take this result as evidence supporting our hypothesis about changing worker strategies for achieving high pay. Finally we investigated the effect of perception of job security on job satisfaction. Indeed, the perception of job security, together with other perception variables, as high pay or promotion opportunities, proved to be strongly influencing responses to job satisfaction, with experiences of high pay having the largest (and increasing) effect.
 

Bukodi, Erzsébet
Historical Changes, Human Capital, and Career Pattern
as Class Determinants in Hungary

The paper focuses on comparing the traditional occupational schema developed by Andorka to the EGP class classification in the Hungarian society. In the empirical analysis, cleavages between manual-non manual labour; employer-self-employed-employee position; managerial/supervisory-subordinated position; skilled-unskilled labour, and working for primary-industrial-tertiary sector are considered.

Data used for the analysis come from the Social Mobility and Life History Survey of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office and cover the full job history of more than 10,000 male and 10,000 female respondents who entered into the labour force after 1950. Data are converted to a person-period file and event history method is applied for testing historical changes of career mobility recruitment into the various class positions. For this purpose multinominal logistic regression analysis is performed in order to present the cumulative class career mobility patterns. Independent variables of the models, fitted separately for men and women, are historical year, formal level of education, job qualifications, first class position and work experience.

Results are interpreted in the light of human capital investment and labour market mobility theories. The paper provides clear evidences for the validity of the EGP schema for Hungary, however, some specific features have to be considered if applying this classification in Hungary.
 

Fényes, Hajnalka-Verdes, Emese
Decision with a Preference

The selective mechanism present at the entrance exams may be an important component of the chances of acquiring higher qualifications. This is studied in the paper during the period between 1967 and 1989 in Hungary, on the basis of an all round data collection. As contrasted to some research results obtained before, the present survey shows that despite the disappearance of the quota system introduced in higher education in the 50s, students of worker and peasant background were preferred at the entrance exams all along in the late Kádár period of Hungary, or, the extent of giving preference to them was stronger than if the examiners only wanted to compensate the disadvantages due only to poorer examination results. Preference accorded to boys as against girls could also be demonstrated in most of the years of the period, though this is less significant than the preferential treatment of those coming from a working class background. However, it remains an open question how far the selective mechanism, present at the entrance exams, could counter-balance differences in the inclination to further studies in higher education, or at the earlier stages.
 

Kelemen, Ágnes
National Sentiments and Attitudes towards Minorities
in the Present Hungary

The present study focuses on issues related to the concept of the nation and how its minorities are represented in the attitude structure of individuals. The research examined the structure of attitudes, organized around the notion of the nation, and explored the structural relationship between national sentiments and attitudes towards cohabitant minority groups connected to the concept of nation.

We have investigated the attitudes organized around the notion of the nation, attitudes toward the Romany and the Jewish minorities in Hungary and explored the structural relationship between the two clusters of dispositions.

The investigation tested three hypotheses set up concerning the assumed relations by a questionnaire survey conducted on a non-representative sample of secondary school students in Budapest. The data yielded by our survey provided a firm base for two of the hypotheses while a third one had been disproved. We could prove that the representational structure of the attitudes towards minorities are indeed organized as three main clusters or strategies: assimilation, discrimination and tolerance. We tested the validity of the Dekker-Malova Nationalism Model in Hungary and proved the systematic relationship between stages of national orientations and attitudinal strategies towards minorities. However, we had to refute the hypotheses regarding the existence of one dominant strategy towards minorities as such, regardless of the actual group in question.
 

Molnár, László-Skultéty, László
To the Margin of a Dispute, or: What Do We Know
about the Romany People?

One of the most suitable methods of research among the Romany people is interview by questionnaire. However, to that the definition of multitude is needed which - as an ethnic group is involved - should also be based on constructs. We have analysed the situation of the Romany population on the basis of the results of the survey conducted by the Szonda Ipsos on a very large national representative sample in 1997. Approximately 2-2.5 thousand Romany respondents were included in the sample which allowed for the study of the population divided into several groups. As a result we have set up four groups out of the entire sample (of 26,800 people) on the basis of three criteria (the questioner's opinion, the respondent's opinion about him or herself, the respondent's answer concerning the nationality of parents):
 

We have investigated the influence of marriage among those who mentioned Romany ancestors. According to the experiences of the survey the school education of those born in a mixed (Romany and non-Romany) marriage was much higher than in the case of those born from a homogenous Romany marriage. In the majority of mixed marriages Romany men of high status would marry non-Romany women, and children born in such a family would have school education going beyond that of the father. In a smaller part of marriages low status non-Romany men would marry Romany women, however, in such families the school education of the children often does not even reach the level of their fathers.