Gender Role Attitudes in South Korea: Beyond Dichotomous Classifications

Previous research has argued that gender role attitudes in South Korea appear to be ambiguous. However, these studies are limited by their division of gender role attitudes into traditionalism and egalitarianism, with insufficient exploration of diverse gender role attitudes. Using latent transition analysis, we investigated the spectrum of gender role attitudes based on the Korea Welfare Panel Study data. We identified three groups of gender role attitudes—traditionalism, pro-work conservatism, and flexible egalitarianism. We investigated how the three groups transitioned between 2008 and 2021 and identified the associated factors. The findings indicate that a significant portion of the population supports pro-work conservatism, though this proportion has decreased. We further found that women transition from the traditional group to the pro-work conservative group or remain in the pro-work conservative group. Additionally, age and education were important factors in transitioning to egalitarian gender roles. Gender role attitudes in South Korea have somewhat shifted toward egalitarianism from 2008 to 2021. However, a contradictory stance persists as there is a simultaneous endorsement of traditional roles for women and their participation in paid work, highlighting a focus area.