Liquid crystalline (LC) and non-LC copolymers that contain 4-methoxyazobenzene side groups and methyl methacrylate units were synthesized to compare the photoinduced reorientation behavior using the polarization absorption spectra of thin films. Irradiating with non-polarized 365 nm light saturated the Z-isomer in the copolymer films and subsequent exposure to a linearly polarized (LP) 633 nm light generated a photoinduced optical anisotropy (Delta A) for all Z-isomer films based on an axis-selective Z-to-E photoisomerization. When a copolymer did not exhibit a LC nature, Delta A gradually increased until 60-80 mol% of the Z-isomers isomerized to the E-isomers, but decreased upon further photoisomerization reaction. On the other hand, the magnitude of the photoinduced Delta A of a film continuously increased for LC copolymers until E-isomer formation was saturated. Thermal amplification of the photoinduced Delta A was observed for LC copolymers, but the thermal treatment resulted in the disappearance of the photoinduced Delta A for the non-LC copolymers. The axis-selective Z-to-E photoisomerization that preserves the direction of the transition moment of both isomers caused the photoinduced Delta A and increased the liquid crystalline nature of the film during the Z-to-E photoisomerization to induce the self-organization of the mesogenic groups. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.