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Jungwoo Justin An

SOC 103: Quantitative Research Methods

Jill Weinberg

October 1st, 2017

Secondary Data Analysis

In order to uncover more information on peoples adherence to gender roles in South

Korea, I looked at the Korean General Social Survey (KGSS), the South Korean version of the

General Social Survey. Although the survey covers a wide range of topics such as the

government, personal finances, internet usage, and more, I specifically wanted to focus on South

Koreans opinions of gender and gender roles in their homes. Highly influenced by

Confucianism, South Korean families have very stringent roles for the family, many ascribing to

the father works, mother stays at home lifestyle. Im interested to see how much of that

remains the norm and whether the influence of the United States and Koreas modernization has

influenced how people think about the issue. From the data, which was found on ICPSR, I

narrowed the variables to those that dealt with women and mens financial role in the family.

At first glance, it seems that peoples perceptions of what women and men should do in

the home seem to be changing. When asked whether both husband and wife should contribute to

the household income, approximately 70% said they both should, and 20% remained neutral.

This result tells us there has been progress in terms of viewing women as capable

employees/workers in the workforce. However, the result may also have been influenced by

financial difficulties in many South Korean families, leading most to believe that both parents

must work in order to sustain their lives. It could have also been impacted by social desirability
bias, respondents choosing to align themselves with more feminist views to seem more western

or current.

Although most people say that both mother and father should contribute financially to the

family, when a child is introduced into the equation, the responses change drastically. When

asked if preschool children suffer through a working mother, 68.91% of respondents either

agreed or strongly agreed and 14.40% remained neutral. When asked if family life suffers

through a working mother, 62.89% either agreed or strongly agreed and 16.12% remained

neutral. These results contradict the findings above, showing us that gender roles may be

fortified when children enter the family picture. This finding is further corroborated by the fact

that 79.94% of respondents agree or strongly agree that people with children ought to marry.

As we delve further into the data, we are seeing that family structures really influence how

people think of gender roles.

Furthermore, when asked about whether gay and lesbian couples were capable of raising

children (as compared to a nuclear couple), most respondents replied that homosexual couples

were not capable (63% for lesbian couples; 71.13% for gay couples). The idea of the nuclear

family, therefore, is firmly engrained in peoples understanding of family structure in South


Korea. Further, when we compare respondents answers to lesbian parents vs. gay parents, we

find that more lesbian couples are perceived to be as good caregivers as heterosexual couples.

This indicates that people may perceive women to be better at caregiving and housework and

men to be better at making money.

Overall, gender norms and roles persist in South Korean society and family. Although

initial findings showed that gender roles were fading, a further look proved that these norms

continue, especially when a child is introduced into the equation. This shows that both family

and gender work together to reestablish the Confucian (and outdated) style of family life. I want

to note at this moment that all of the conclusions are speculative. Obviously, more research must

be performed to reach a more definitive conclusion, but this first look at the general social survey

has given us a great jumping off point for further research. The next logical step to take would be

to look at how specific variables interact with these findings. There are many more variables in

this study that could have been looked at spouse responsibility and perception of women in

general, for example but only if we can compare two variables with each other.

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