THE INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL NORMS ON KOREAN WIVES’ INTENTION TO TALK
WITH THEIR HUSBANDS ABOUT THE EQUAL DIVISION OF HOUSEWORK
By
Sun Young Park

A THESIS
Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
Communication – Master of Arts
2017

ABSTRACT
THE INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL NORMS ON KOREAN WIVES’ INTENTION TO TALK
WITH THEIR HUSBANDS ABOUT THE EQUAL DIVISION OF HOUSEWORK
By
Sun Young Park
The perception in South Korea that housework is the primary duty of a wife, even when she is
equally engaged in social activities as her husband, creates a conflict for female employees’
work-life balance. Nowadays, Korean males see the equal division of housework more
positively than in the past. However, a large gap still exists between the attitude and the actual
behavior of the equal amount of housework. The present paper assumes that interpersonal
communication can be the channel to reduce this gap. The theory of planned behavior and
social norms approach are the theoretical frameworks that guide the study. The purpose of the
study is to examine how social norms are influencing Korean wives’ intention to talk to their
husbands about the equal division of housework.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES

iv

INTRODUCTION

1

LITERATURE REVIEW
Korean Women’s Domestic Duties
Social Norms and Korean Wives’ Intention to Initiate Communication
The Theory of Planned Behavior
Social Norms Approach
Hypotheses and Research Question

3
3
5
7
8
10

METHOD
Participants and Procedure
Measures

12
12
13

RESULTS
Hypothesis 1
Hypothesis 2
Hypothesis 3
Hypothesis 4
Research Question

15
15
15
15
17
18

DISCUSSION
Implications
Limitations
Conclusion

19
21
22
23

APPENDIX

25

REFERENCES

28

iii

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1. Demographic Information

12

Table 2. Descriptive Analysis

14

Table 3. Pearson Correlations Matrix

14

Table 4. Two-Step Regression Analysis for Moderation of Norms

17

Table 5. The Average Minutes of Housework Per a Day
by Employment Status of Couples

19

iv

INTRODUCTION
The theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the social norms approach (SNA) have been
useful tools to predict an individual’s behavioral intention and behavioral changes. In
particular, subjective norms from TPB and descriptive and injunctive norms from SNA have
been adapted to several studies to explain the mechanism of an individual’s behavior. While
some researchers did not differentiate subjective norms and injunctive norms (Lapinski &
Rimal, 2005), other research found that each norm is a distinctive concept and has a differential
impact on behavioral intention (Park & Smith, 2007; Park, Klein, Smith, & Martell, 2009). The
present study aims to test the previous findings of the TPB and SNA in a different and new
context, the division of housework in South Korea (Korea). Korean males spend the least time
in doing chores among countries from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD, 2014). The prevalent perception in Korea that housework is a duty of
female family members, even when they are engaged in the same work and social activities as
men, causes conflict to female in their work-life balance.
Although more Koreans have a more positive attitude toward the equal division of
housework than in the past, very few people actually put this into action (The Korean National
Statistical Office, 2014a). Interpersonal communication between husbands and wives is one
channel that could be used to resolve this issue. The purpose of the study is to examine how
different social norms are influencing on Korean wives’ intention to talk to their husbands
about the equal division of housework. The present paper is largely based on Park and Smith’s
research (2007) which tested the separate influence of subjective norms, descriptive norms, and
injunctive norms in organ donation. This paper begins with background information about
gendered division of household labor in Korea and how social norms can impact Korean

1

wives’ intention to initiate conversation with their husbands about the equal division of
household labor. Two theoretical frameworks, the TPB and SNA, guide hypotheses and
research questions.

2

LITERATURE REVIEW
Korean Women’s Domestic Duties
Korean women have the lowest glass ceiling in jobs among OECD countries. This
indicates that women have the lowest employment rate, and fewer women are senior managers or
board members. The gender wage gap is largest in Korea compared to other OECD countries
(The Economist, 2016). This might be explained by the ‘gendered’ market design in Korea. The
organizational culture in Korea is known for working late and heavy drinking, which forms
informal relationships between peers, supervisors, and business associates (Kim, 2009; Lee,
Park, Lee, Kim, & Kim, 2006). The design of this market assumes that employees have wives or
other female family members who can relieve them from domestic duties, such as housework or
childcare, so that they do not necessarily have to go home early. Thus, female employees are
often regarded as incapable of coping with domestic duties and careers (Kim, 2009). While male
employees engage in informal bonding with each other late at night, female employees are often
considered as out-group members and have fewer chances to get promoted.
Responsibility of household labor is not only a burden for working women. The unequal
amount of housework is deleterious to women regardless of their employment status. Whereas
the division of household labor is usually not related to married men’s personal well-being or
marital satisfaction, the unequal amount of household labor could reduce marital satisfaction and
increase depression for married women (Cotrane, 2000). There is no relationship between wives’
employment status and the degree of Korean husbands’ contribution to housework. Recent
national census data (The Korean National Statistical Office, 2014b) revealed that wives engaged
in significantly more housework when a husband and a wife were equally engaged in economic
activities, when only a husband was employed but wife was not, and even when only wife was

3

working but a husband stayed at a domestic sphere. For example, Korean husbands in dualearner couples spent only five less minutes per a day doing housework than working husbands
whose wives are not employed (The Korean National Statistical Office, 2014b).
The reason why women take care of the majority of domestic responsibility regardless of
their employment status is due to Confucian values that are deeply rooted in Korean culture.
Confucianism originates from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius and has
affected to Korean culture to a great extent since the last kingdom of Korea (Seo, Leather, &
Coyne, 2012). Confucianism emphasizes traditional roles of a dominating husband and a wellcomplying wife to maintain balance and harmony in society (Choi, 1994; Croucher & Miles,
2009; Han, 2012). While Confucian manhood is characterized with active and honorable images
such as moral leadership, social strictness, personal dignity, and family responsibility, Confucian
womanhood is represented as self-sacrificing women who accept husband-father dictation,
refrain from debate, do not shame their families with carelessness, and whose work is to serve in
roles such as as daughter-in-law, wife, and mother (Han & Ling, 1998). Thus, the Korean
culture, based on Confucianism, has formulated the perception that housework is a first priority
for Korean women and the least priority for Korean men even when married couples are equally
employed.
The problem is that the cultural and social pressure on Korean wives to do a vast
majority of the housework deters women’s entry into the labor force and equal treatment of male
and female employees in the work place, as shown by the fact that South Korea has the lowest
glass ceiling in jobs among OECD countries (The Economist, 2016). Furthermore, this gendered
perception that housework is a duty for women solidifies patriarchy in Korean family in which a
husband is a primary decision maker while a wife’s major role is limited to providing emotional

4

nurturance to a husband and children (Han, 2012). Consistent with this argument, recent research
suggests that gender equality has to be established first to achieve the ideal division of
housework in Korea since the perception of non-traditional gender roles is positively associated
with the equal division of housework in dual income couples (Jung & Cho, 2015).
Some may expect that these traditional values might be changed by now due to the
country’s urbanization and a shift in generations. Although this might be true in terms of
attitudes toward the equal division of household labor, a gap still exists between the attitude and
the actual behaviors. According to a recent poll conducted by the Korean National Statistical
Office, almost half of the male population endorse equal division of housework. However, only
16% of them actually report doing so (The Korean National Statistical Office, 2014a). This paper
assumes that interpersonal communication between a husband and a wife is one channel to
reduce the gap between the attitude and the actual equal division of housework. As the data
shows, the positive attitude of men toward doing more chores is not sufficient to change the
traditional gender roles. A husband and a wife need to realize that both of them want equality,
articulate their commitment to each other, and make an active effort together to achieve the equal
division of housework (Askari, Liss, Erchull, Staebell, & Axelson, 2010). As the very first step
of communication between a couple, a Korean wife’s intention to talk with her husband about
the equal division of household labor is important.
Social Norms and Korean Wives’ Intention to Initiate Communication
Not every wife may negatively evaluate their contribution to chores even though they do
much more housework than their husbands (Askari, Liss, Erchull, Staebell, & Axelson, 2010;
Lennon & Rosenfield, 1994; Perales, Baxter, & Tai, 2015). Some researchers argue that
women’s desire for the equality in housework is usually thwarted by their lower social status and

5

the threat of divorce, which will yield a lower standard of living. Thus, women are induced to
define an objectively unequal situation as just (Hochschild, 1989; Lennon & Rosenfield, 1994).
Although not every married woman perceives the needs to talk to husband about sharing
housework, the role of social norms is expected to play a significant role in predicting Korean
women’s intention to talk with their husbands about the equal division of household labor. This
is because people tend to make decisions based on their perceptions of what others think or do
(Cialdini, Reno, & Kallgren, 1990). Perceptions of normative behaviors are associated with an
individual’s behavior and yield intervention effects (Martens et al., 2006). Intervention effects of
social norms have been tested in various contexts. For example, it has been shown that social
norms are conducive to reduce college student’s heavy drinking by correcting prevalent
misperceptions (Perkins, Haines, & Rice, 2005), and peer norms are significantly related to
students’ drug use and sexual behavior (Martens et al, 2006). As shown in several studies, people
consider what others in similar social positions would do or think in given situations when
making decisions about their own behaviors (Kilmartin et al., 2008). In other words, people are
influenced by their perception of other people’s thought and actions. Although most past
research was conducted in the context of health-risk behaviors, it is conceivable to expect that
perceived social norms will impact Korean wives’ decisions to initiate conversation with their
husband about the equal division of housework. If married women who do not perceive a given
amount of housework unfair find out that a majority of other similar women discuss how to
achieve an equal division of housework with their husband, they will become aware that they are
not engaged in normative behaviors, and they might intend to have a conversation with husbands
as others do. Conversely, although some wives think their current division of housework is
unfair, they might not be likely to initiate the conversation with their husbands when they

6

perceive others who are important to them would not think it is appropriate to negotiate the
division of housework. Also, due to the collectivistic culture in Korea where others’ opinions are
particularly influential to an individual’s decision, Korean wives are expected to be more
sensitive to others’ opinions compared to women from other nations with individualistic culture
(Hofstede, 1993; Seo, Leather, & Coyne, 2012). Thus, normative information about others’
communicational behavior pertaining to the equal division of housework would lead Korean
wives to intend to initiate conversation with their husbands, even when they are not aware of the
need to re-divide the division of household labor. Park and Smith’s (2007) research examined
different types of social norms and found that each norm brings a separate impact to a behavioral
intention to varying degrees. To investigate how these findings can be applied to Korean
housewives’ behavioral intentions, the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and social norms
approach (SNA) provide theoretical frameworks to guide the present study.
The Theory of Planned Behavior
The theory of planned behavior (TPB) is largely based on the theory of reasoned action
(Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980; Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975). The TPB explains what leads to people’s
behaviors using four constructs; attitude toward the behavior, subjective norms, perceived
behavioral control, and behavioral intention (Ajzen, 1991). Behavioral intention is strongly
associated with the actual behavior and is predicted by other three constructs. Attitudes toward a
specific behavior reflect an individual’s evaluation of the behavior. Subjective norms indicate the
perception of what other people who are important to an individual think he or she should do in a
given situation. Perceived behavioral control (PBC) refers to an individual’s perceived difficulty
of performing a specific behavior (Ajzen, 1991). The TPB has provided a theoretical framework
to understand behavioral intention and behaviors of people from non-Western cultures (Park &

7

Lee, 2009). The difference between the TRA and the TPB is the inclusion of PBC. PBC is an
important construct in the present study. Some Korean wives may feel a lack of self-efficacy to
talk to their husbands about housework because of cultural values, or they might have a lack of
skill and knowledge of how to start the conversation about the division of labor to their
husbands. For this reason, PBC is included in the present study in order for the TPB to be used
instead of the TRA. However, TPB only accounts for one type of social norm. Another
theoretical framework is needed to uncover how other social norms influence Korean
housewives’ intention to discuss the amount of household labor with their husbands.
Social Norms Approach
The social norms approach (SNA) was first proposed by Perkins and Berkowitz (1986) to
analyze students’ alcohol consumption pattern. According to the SNA, relevant norms can be
categorized into two types: descriptive norms and injunctive norms (Cialdini, Reno, & Kallgren,
1990). Descriptive norms refer to the perception of prevalence of the act among people who are
important to individuals. Injunctive norms refer to an individual’s belief regarding the approval
of the act by people who are important to the individual (Park & Smith, 2007; Yun & Silk,
2011).
People in different cultures might react differently to norms. It is possible that Korean
cultural orientation strengthens or weakens the impact of each norm (Paek, Lee, & Hove, 2014).
Injunctive norms are expected to be a strong predictor of Korean wives’ behavioral intention.
Previous research found that injunctive norms may lead people to think that they are being
pushed in a certain direction by the norms (Jacobson, Mortensen, & Cialdini, 2011; Melnyk, Van
Herpen, Fischer, & Van Trijp, 2011; De Wit, De Ridder, Stok, & De Vet, 2014). People might
perceive the injunctive norm approval as an attempt to limit their freedom of thinking and acting

8

(Silvia, 2006; De Wit, De Ridder, Stok, & De Vet, 2014). Due to this reason, some might expect
that injunctive norms can have a negative impact on wives’ behavioral intention to talk with their
husbands. This is plausible when one lives in an individualistic culture where an individual’s
autonomy is a key value (Hofstede, 1991; Kagitcibasi, 2005). However, cultural orientation in
Korea may strengthen the effect of perceived injunctive norms. Korean culture is characterized
as collectivism where interdependence and social harmony are highly appreciated (Hofstede,
2001; Paek, Lee, & Hove, 2014). Others’ approval is perceived more significant in collectivistic
culture than in individualistic culture. Collectivistic orientation emphasizes harmonization within
a society, which promotes social acceptance and social approval (Tafarodi & Walters, 1999).
Injunctive norms have normative pressures (Yun & Silk, 2011) and are likely to be associated
with a collectivistic orientation. Therefore, it is predicted that injunctive norms positively impact
a Korean wife’s intention to talk about the division of labor more than other norms.

9

Hypotheses and Research Question
Previous studies found distinctive contributions of subjective norms, descriptive norms,
and injunctive norms in the contexts of organ donation and college students’ drinking habits
(Park & Smith, 2007; Park, Klein, Smith, & Martell, 2009). The current study proposes that
these different types of norms exist in the context of Korean wives’ intention to talk with their
husbands about the equal division of labor: a reference group’s expectation of a wife
(subjective norms) can be differentiated from perceptions of a group’s approval of the act
(injunctive norms) and prevalence of the act among members in a reference group
(descriptive norms) (Park & Smith, 2007). Reference groups are crucial to deliver social
norms to individuals because people are affected by others’ behaviors who are in a same
social position when making a behavioral decision (Kilmartin et al, 2008). For married
women female friends who are also married can be a reference group to decide whether to
talk with their husbands about the equal division of labor or not. It is expected that although
some of norms may be directly relevant to Korean wives’ behavioral intention, others may
also moderate the effect of attitudes and PBC on their behavioral intentions. Also, findings
here will answer the question of whether the amount of time husbands spent in doing
housework is influenced by wives’ employment status to a great extent. Even when only a
wife is employed and a husband is unemployed, a wife still spends one more hour on
domestic chores than a husband (The National Korean Statistical Office, 2014b). It is
questionable whether married women’s employment status is influential to their behavioral
intentions or not. Thus, the following hypotheses and research questions are posed:
H1: Subjective norms, descriptive norms, and injunctive norms will represent three separate
dimensions of norms.

10

H2: TPB components and norms will be directly related to behavioral intentions.
H3: Norms will moderate the effects of the TPB components of attitude and PBC on
behavioral intentions.
H4: Injunctive norms will be the stronger predictor of Korean women’s behavioral intention
than subjective norms and descriptive norms.
RQ1: Will employment status of couples affect Korean wives’ behavioral intentions to talk
with their husbands about the equal division of housework?

11

METHOD
Participants and Procedure
Two hundred and sixteen Korean wives were recruited to participate in the study. They
were selected from a nationally representative panel of survey respondents administered by
Focus Company Co., LTD., Seoul, Korea. Nine participants reported more than twelve hours on
average time of daily housework. They were dropped because of an excessive number of hours.
As a result, two hundred and nine wives’ responses are reported with a mean age of 34.33 years
(SD=3.26). These participants’ employment status proportionally matched with the recent census
in Korea (dual income couples = 42.9% (N=91), only wife employed = 6% (N=12), only
husband employed = 50.1% (N=106)) (The Korean National Statistical Office, 2014b).
Participants filled out questionnaire via online surveys and received approximately one US dollar
after the survey. Summary of the demographic information of participants is reported in Table 1.
Table 1.
Demographic Information

N

Valid
Missing

Mean
Median
Mode
Std. Deviation
Range
Minimum
Maximum

N
Mean
Median

Valid
Missing

Age
(Wife)
209
0
34.33
35.00
35.00
3.26
14.00
26.00
40.00

Number
Age
of
(Husband) Children
209
209
0
0
36.83
1.26
37.00
1.00
35.00
1.00
4.24
.97
25.00
7.00
25.00
.00
50.00
7.00

Education Education
(Wife)
(Husband)
209
209
0
0
-

12

Marriage
Duration
(years)
209
0
6.28
6.00
1.00
3.93
19.00
1.00
20.00

Place
209
0
-

Wife's
Housework
(minutes/
day)
209
0
197.29
171.43
77.14
147.46
634.29
.00
634.29

Couple’s
Working
Status
209
0
-

Husband's
Housework
(minutes/
day)
209
0
63.30
38.57
.00
94.66
634.29
.00
634.29
Perceived
Fairness of
Current
Division
209
0
4.17
4.00

Table 1 (cont’d).
Mode
5
5
1
2
4
Std. Deviation
1.72
Range
3
3
1
2
6
Minimum
3
3
1
1
1
Maximum
6
6
2
3
7
*Education: 3=high school graduate, 4=community college diploma, 5=bachelor degree, 6=graduate
school degree
*Place: 1=urban, 2=rural area
*Couple’s working status: 1=dual income couple, 2=only husband is working, 3=only wife is working
*perceived fairness of current division: 1=not fair to me at all, 7=very fair to me

Measures
As recommended by Ajzen, who first proposed the TPB (Ajzen, 1991), seven-point
Likert scales were used to measure TPB components (subjective norms, perceived behavioral
control, attitude toward the behavior, behavioral intention), as well as attitude toward the equal
division of housework, descriptive norms and injunctive norms. Questionnaire items were
adapted from Park and Smith’s study (2007) and edited accordingly to this context (Appendix
B). The original English questionnaires were translated into Korean first by the author who is
fluent in both English and Korean. Then, another person, who is also fluent in both languages
and not involved with the current study carefully compared two questionnaires to make sure that
there was no gap between the Korean version and the original English version.
Responses within each subscale were analyzed and resulted in measures of attitude
toward the equal division of housework (⍺=0.86, M=5.49, SD=1.41), attitude toward the
behavior of speaking to husband about the equal division of housework (⍺=0.95, M=5.43,
SD=1.39), behavioral intention (⍺=0.92, M=4.99, SD=1.25), PBC (⍺=0.91, M=5.12, SD=1.27),
subjective norms (⍺=0.86, M=5.05, SD=1.15), descriptive norms (⍺=0.88, M=5.09, SD=1.13),
and injunctive norms (⍺=0.89, M=5.41, SD=1.04). Descriptive analysis and Zero-order
correlations are reported in Table 2 and Table 3 respectively.

13

Table 2.
Descriptive Analysis

Mean
Median
Mode
Std. Deviation
Range
Minimum

AE
209
0
5.49
5.50
7.00
1.41
6.00
1.00

AB
209
0
5.43
5.75
7.00
1.39
6.00
1.00

BI
209
0
4.99
5.00
5.00
1.25
6.00
1.00

PBC
209
0
5.12
5.25
5.50
1.27
6.00
1.00

SN
209
0
5.05
5.00
5.00
1.15
6.00
1.00

DN
209
0
5.09
5.00
4.67
1.13
6.00
1.00

IN
209
0
5.41
5.33
5.00
1.04
6.00
1.00

Perceived
DN (%)
209
0
55.11
50.00
50.00
26.81
98.00
2.00

Maximum

7.00 7.00

7.00

7.00

7.00

7.00

7.00

100.00

N

Valid
Missing

Perceived
IN (%)
209
0
74.01
80.00
100.00
25.86
100.00
.00
100.00

Note. AE=Attitude toward Equal division of housework, AB= Attitude toward behavior of speaking to
husband about equal division of housework, BI=Behavioral intention, PBC=Perceived Behavioral
Control, SN=Subjective norms, DN=Descriptive norms

Table 3.
Pearson Correlations Matrix
AE

AB

PBC

SN

DN

IN

AE

1

AB

.64**

1

PBC

.26**

.50**

1

SN

.20**

.34**

.61**

1

DN

.17*

.25**

.52**

.77**

1

IN

.34**

.46**

.57**

.75**

.72**

1

BI

.25**

.47**

.61**

.67**

.58**

.67**

BI

1

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
Note. AE=Attitude toward Equal division of housework, AB= Attitude toward behavior of speaking to
husband about equal division of housework, BI=Behavioral intention, PBC=Perceived Behavioral
Control, SN=Subjective norms, DN=Descriptive norms

14

RESULTS
Hypothesis 1
Hypothesis 1 predicted that subjective norm, descriptive norm, and injunctive norm
represent separate dimensions of norms. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted via
MPLUS. In addition to three different norms, measurements of attitude toward the equal division
of housework, attitude toward the behavior of speaking to husbands about the equal division of
housework, and PBC were included. The seven-factor model was a much better fit (Comparative
Fit Index (CFI) = .92, Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR)=.06, Root Mean
Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) = .09), than a one-factor model (CFI = .54,
SRMR= .15, RMSEA = .20). Therefore, hypothesis 1 was supported.
Hypothesis 2
Hypothesis 2 predicted that the TPB components, descriptive, and subjective norms
would be directly related to behavioral intentions. Regression analysis revealed that TPB
components of subjective norms, attitude toward the behavior, and PBC, descriptive norms, and
injunctive norms significantly predicted behavioral intention, F(5, 203)=53.48, p < .01. 𝑅" for the
analysis was .57 and the adjusted 𝑅" was .56. Attitude toward behavior (B=.15, p<.05), PBC
(B=.20, p<.01), subjective norms (B=.28, p<.01), and injunctive norms (B=.23, p<.01)
significantly predicted wives’ behavioral intention of talking to husband about the equal division
of housework. However, descriptive norms were not a significant predictor of behavioral
intention (B=.06, p>.05). Thus, hypothesis 2 was partially supported.
Hypothesis 3
Hypothesis 3 predicted that norms will moderate the effects of the TPB components of
attitude and PBC on behavioral intentions. To reveal how the norms impact the relationship

15

between the TPB components and wives’ behavioral intentions of speaking to their husbands
about the equal division of housework, regression analysis was conducted. Using a two-step
regression analysis, the TPB components of attitude toward the behavior of speaking to the
husbands and PBC were included in the first block. Subjective norms, descriptive norms, and
injunctive norms were entered to the second block in order to examine the variance in the
behavioral intentions explained by different types of norms. When the TPB components of
attitude toward behavior and PBC were entered to the first block of the regression analysis,
attitudes toward behavior (B = .21, p<.01) and PBC (B = .50, p<.01) were statistically
significant. When the three different types of norms were entered to the second block, they
together explained an additional 16% of the variance in behavioral intention. Although
descriptive norms were not a statistically significant predictor of behavioral intention (B = .06,
p>.05), subjective norms (B = .28, p<.01) and injunctive norms (B = .23, p<.01) were
significantly related to behavioral intentions to talk with husbands about the equal division of
housework. As shown in Table 4, when three types of norms were entered to the second block,
the regression coefficients of attitudes toward behavior and PBC were readjusted, taking into
account the three norm variables entered to the second block. Both attitudes toward behavior and
PBC remained significant even after including the three norms. Although descriptive norms
alone are not a significant predictor of behavioral intentions, the three norms together moderated
the relationship between TPB components of attitudes and PBC, and behavioral intentions. Thus,
hypothesis 3 was supported.

16

Table 4.
Two-Step Regression Analysis for Moderation of Norms

Model
1

2

Unstandardized
Coefficients
Std.
B
Error
5.67 1.25
.19
.06
.49
.06

(Constant)
AB
PBC

(Constant)
AB
PBC
SN
DN
IN

F(2,206)=70.84
-.50
.14
.20
.40
.09
.37

Standardized
Coefficients
Beta

t
.21
.50

Sig.
4.53
3.46
8.09

.00
.00
.00

-.38
2.69
3.13
3.31
.79
2.92

.70
.01
.00
.00
.43
.00

Adjusted 𝑅 " =.40
1.32
.05
.06
.12
.11
.13

.15
.20
.28
.06
.23
Adjusted 𝑅 " =.56

F(5,203)=53.48

a. Dependent Variable: Behavioral Intention
Note. AE=Attitude toward Equal division of housework, AB= Attitude toward behavior of speaking to
husband about equal division of housework, BI=Behavioral intention, PBC=Perceived Behavioral
Control, SN=Subjective norms, DN=Descriptive norms

As shown in Table 4, when three types of norms were entered to the second block, the
regression coefficients of attitudes toward behavior and PBC were readjusted, taking into
account the three norm variables entered to the second block. Both attitudes toward behavior and
PBC remained significant even after including the three norms. Although descriptive norms
alone are not a significant predictor of behavioral intentions, the three norms together moderated
the relationship between TPB components of attitudes and PBC, and behavioral intentions. Thus,
hypothesis 3 was supported.
Hypothesis 4
Hypothesis 4 predicted injunctive norms will be the strongest predictor of Korean wives’
behavioral intention over subjective norms and descriptive norms. Regression analysis was
conducted to reveal which is the strongest predictor among three different norms, F(5,

17

203)=71.67, p < .01. 𝑅" and the adjusted 𝑅" for the analysis were .51. The analysis confirmed that
subjective and injunctive norms are equally significant predictor of behavioral intention (B=.37,
p<.01). Consistent with the result of hypothesis 2, descriptive norms did not significantly predict
behavioral intention (B=.03, p>.05). Since injunctive norms were not stronger predictor than
subjective norms, hypothesis 4 was not supported.
Research Question
Research question was posed to determine how employment status of couples affects
Korean wives’ behavioral intentions to talk with their husbands about the equal division of
housework. In this study, participants’ employment status proportionally matched with the recent
census in Korea as 42.9% of wives from dual income couples (N=91), 50.1% of them whose
husbands were employed but they were not (N=106) and 6% of wives who were employed but
their husbands were not (N=12) (The Korean National Statistical Office, 2014b). A one-way
analysis of variance (ANOVA) did not indicate significant differences in behavioral intentions
across three types of employment status of couples (F=1.08, df=2/206, Ρ" =.00, p>.05). Mean
scores of behavioral intention were similar across three different conditions of when wives and
husbands were equally employed (M=5.00, SD=1.16), when wives were not employed but
husbands were working (M=5.04, SD=1.24), and when husbands were not employed but wives
were working (M=4.48, SD=1.86). Each mean of behavioral intention was not significantly
different from the total mean across three groups (M=4.99, SD=1.25). ANOVA indicated that
Korean wives’ behavioral intention of speaking to their husbands about the equal division of
housework were not affected by employment status of couples.

18

DISCUSSION
Although Korean wives spent more time on doing housework than do their husbands
regardless of employment status (Table 5), their perceived fairness toward the current division of
housework was at the midpoint (M=4.17, SD=1.72) of a seven-point Likert scale.
Table 5.
The Average Minutes of Housework Per a Day by Employment Status of Couples
Wife's Housework
Husband’s Housework
(minutes per a day)
(minutes per a day)
Dual Income Couple
(N=91)

148.27
(SD=106.10)

66.78
(SD=92.54)

When only husband is hired
(N=106)

250.39
(SD=163.52)

59.81
(SD=97.97)

When only wife is hired
(N=12)

100.00
(SD=80.32)

67.74
(SD=86.62)

Total
(N=209)

197.29
(SD=147.46)

63.30
(SD=94.66)

As Koreans hold a favorable attitude toward the equal division of housework but are not
actually doing so (The Korean National Statistical Office, 2014a), Korean wives did not perceive
the unfair division as unfair although they have favorable attitude toward the equal division of
housework (M=5.49, SD=1.41). The present study found that proximal peer norms can influence
Korean wives’ intention to talk about the division of housework with their husbands to solve this
issue. This study confirmed the previous findings (Park & Smith, 2007; Park, Klein, Smith, &
Martell, 2009) that subjective norms, descriptive norms, and injunctive norms represent separate
dimensions and each dimension has a unique role to influence individual’s behavioral intentions.
Although subjective and injunctive norms directly predicted behavioral intention, descriptive
norms were not a statistically significant predictor of Korean wives’ intention to talk with their
husbands about the equal division of housework. Korean wives perceived that their close female
friends who are also married approve of talking with husbands about the equal division of

19

housework. However, they did not perceive that many of their friends actually had conversation
with their husbands. In addition, in spite of moderation effects of three norms, descriptive norms
alone did not moderate the relationship between the TPB components of attitudes and PBC and
behavioral intention. The present study also finds that employment status of couples did not
influence on wives’ intention to talk with their husbands about the equal division of housework.
The non-significant effect of descriptive norms might be explained by the fact that
participants did not strongly perceive descriptive norms toward interpersonal communication
with husbands about the equal division of housework. In the online survey, participants were
asked to report their perceived descriptive norms (What percentage of your female married
friends have talked to their husbands about the equal division of housework?) and perceived
injunctive norms (What percentage of your female married friends approve of wives’ talking to
husbands about the equal division of housework?). The mean of perceived descriptive norms was
55.11% (SD=26.81) while the mean of perceived injunctive norms was 74.01% (SD=25.86).
Korean wives thought that roughly above half of wives’ proximal peers were actually engaged in
the behavior whereas almost 3/4 of proximal peers approve of the behavior. This result suggests
that an individual’s perception of social norms is closely related to the impact of those norms.
The result might be interpreted as descriptive norms do not influence on wives’ behavioral
intention to initiate the conversation with husbands about the equal division of housework.
However, it may be one possibility to interpret the result as the reason why descriptive norms did
not predict behavioral intention in the present study is because descriptive norms were not firmly
established among proximal peers of Korean wives.
Another interesting finding of the present study is that employment status of couples did
not influence on wives’ intention to talk with their husbands about the equal division of

20

housework. It is conceivable to assume that wives are more likely to negotiate the equal division
of housework when they are employed but their husbands are not. Unlike this expectation, the
analysis for research question revealed that none of the variance in behavioral intention was
explained by different types of employment status (dual income couple, when only husband is
employed, when only wife is employed). This seemingly surprising result is consistent with the
recent census results in Korea. According to the national poll conducted by the Korean National
Statistical Office (2014), the wife always spent more time on housework than husband across
three types of employment status of couples (The Korean National Statistical Office, 2014b). A
similar result was reported in the present study as shown in Table 5. The wives spent more time
on housework regardless of employment status of couples. Consistent with this result, Korean
wives’ intention to initiate conversation with husbands about the equal division of housework
was similar across the employment status of couples since the employment status did not impact
the division of housework.
Implications
This study is meaningful for three reasons. First, this is the first study in the
communication field to look into the division of household labor in Korea. The topic has not
attracted much attention so far even though it is directly related to daily lives and social issues.
This study could bring attention to how interpersonal communication impacts traditional gender
roles in Korea, which is relatively understudied. Second, the validity of the existing finding was
tested in the present study. Replicating Park and Smith’s study (2007) reveals previous findings
can be applied in the new context of the division of housework in Korea. Particularly, the present
study limited the scope of a referent group to a proximal peer group (Lewis & Thombs, 2005;
Park, Klein, Smith, & Martell, 2009) whereas previous studies focused on distal or global norms

21

(Park & Smith, 2007; Park, Smith, & Martell, 2009). The different level of norms induced the
meaningful finding that norms established among proximal peers matter before Korean wives
make a decision as whether to initiate a conversation regarding the division of housework with
their husbands. Last, this paper also provides a practical implication to achieve the equal division
of household labor in Korea. The paper shows that interpersonal communication between a
husband and a wife can contribute to reduce the gap between attitude and the actual behavior so
that the equal division of household labor can be achieved. A wife’s intention to talk about the
equal division of housework is important to initiate the conversation about housework. But it
may be hard to initiate the conversation when a wife does not evaluate the division of housework
as unjust, which is commonly happening to housewives (Coltrane, 2000; Johnson, Galambos, &
Anderson, 2016). The present paper emphasizes the importance of proximal peer norms in
predicting Korean wives’ intention to talk about the equal division of housework. This leads to
the conclusion that there are more chances to achieve the equal and equitable division of
household labor when many people are talking about the topic. This is a useful piece of
information in order to design a campaign related to the division of household labor in Korea in
the future.
Limitations
The sample recruited for the study is nationally representative. Although the working
status of couple is proportionally matched with national census, the number of wives who have
jobs but their spouses do not was very small (N= 12) compared to other working statuses (dual
income couple (N=91), only husband is working (N=106)). This is partly because it was hard to
recruit wives who were employed but their husbands were not as they are only 6% of the Korean
population (The Korean National Statistical Office, 2014b). If available, future study could be

22

conducted which recruits samples that are evenly divided across the three different working
statuses of couples.
The present study assumes that Korean wives’ behavior of speaking to husbands about
the equal division of housework is a deliberative decision. As the TRA (Fishbein& Ajzen, 1975)
and the TPB (Ajzen, 1991) imply, people fully consider and assess information when they
deliberatively make decisions (Rhodes, Ewoldsen, Shen, Monahan, & Eno, 2014). However, it is
also possible enough that Korean wives spontaneously decide to talk with their spouses about the
equal division of housework. Unlike deliberative decision making, spontaneous decisions
proceed from the consideration of readily accessible information from memory (Fazio, 1990;
Gerrard et al., 2008; Olson & Fazio, 2009; Rhodes, Ewoldsen, Shen, Monahan, & Eno, 2014).
Although it is reasonable to expect that Korean wives will thoroughly consider information
before they decide to talk about the division of housework with their husbands given the
traditional gender norms in the culture, some of them might automatically decide to speak to
their husbands about the issue without cognitive process of carefully weighing information.
Future studies can look into how different social norms and attitudes can play roles in Korean
wives’ spontaneous decision making of speaking to their husbands about the equal division of
housework by measuring accessibility of three different norms and accessibility of attitude
toward the behavior of speaking about the equal division of household labor.
Conclusion
These results provide important evidence that proximal peer norms are particularly
salient when Korean housewives make the decision to talk with their husbands about the equal
division of housework. Both proximal peers’ subjective and injunctive norms influenced
behavioral intention of talking to a husband about the equal division of housework as well as

23

attitudes and PBC of the behavior. The findings suggest that interventions designed for the equal
division of housework have to focus on norms that are shared among wives’ proximal peers.
According to the results, it would be more effective to inform Korean wives about other married
female friends’ approval or expectations toward having a conversation with a husband about the
division of household labor, rather than to simply figure of how many of their friends have ever
engaged in the similar conversation.

24

APPENDIX

25

Measures for Talking with a Husband about the Division of Housework
Demographic information
What is your age?
What is your husband’s age?
What is your highest level of education?
What is your husbands’ highest level of education?
What is your working status?
What is your husband’s working status? employed
How many children do you have?
In which area do you reside? 1. Urban 2. Rural
How many years have you been married?
Attitude toward the equal division of housework
The equal division of household labor is good–bad, wise–unwise, favorable–unfavorable,
beneficial–not beneficial.
Perceived fairness in housework
How do you feel about the fairness of housework in your relationship? (very unfair to me-very
fair to me)
Actual division of housework
On average, how much time do you spend on doing housework per a day?
On average, how much time does your husband spend on doing housework per a day?
Behavioral Intention
I intend to talk with my husband about the equal division of housework in the near future.
I mean to talk with my husband about the equal division of housework in the near future.
I have it in my mind to talk with my husband about the equal division of housework in the near
future.
I will talk with my husband about the equal division of housework in the near future.
Direct measure of attitudes toward behavior
Talking with my husband about the equal division of housework is good–bad, wise–unwise,
favorable–unfavorable, beneficial–not beneficial.
Perceived behavioral control
It is easy to talk with my husband about the equal division of housework.
I am confident about talking with my husband about the equal division of housework.
I can talk with my husband about the equal division of housework.
I know how to talk with my husband about the equal division of housework.
Subjective norms
My female friends who are married expect me to talk with my husband about the equal division of
housework

26

My married female friends whose opinion I value expect me to talk with my husband about the
equal division of housework.
My married female friends who are important to me expect me to talk with my husbands about
the equal division of housework.
Descriptive norms
My female friends who are married have talked with their husbands about the division of
housework.
Most of my female friends who are married have talked with their husbands about the equal
division of housework.
Most of my female friends who are married have had discussions about the division of
housework with their husbands.
What percentage of your female married friends have talked to their husbands about the equal
division of housework? (0-100%)
Injunctive norms
Most of my female friends who are married would approve of my talking with my husband about
the equal division of housework.
Most of my female friends who are married would endorse my talking with my husband about
the equal division of housework.
Most of my female friends who are married would support that I express to my husband my
opinions about the equal division of housework.
What percentage of your female married friends approve of wives talking to husbands about the
equal division of housework? (0-100%)

27

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28

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