Marital Status, Gender, And Subjective Quality of Life in Korea

Abstract

The present study explores the effects of marital status and gender on the subjective quality of life in Korea. The data from a national survey of 955 married or single adults are examined by performing hierarchical regression analysis. Five separate scales are used to measure the quality of life which include a single-item general happiness scale, two negative affect scales, a modified version of Life in General Scale developed by Campbell et al. (1976), and a scale measuring the sense of personal competence. The result indicates that gender is a stable predictor of the quality of life regardless of one's marital status; men are better off than women. Being married appears to affect the level of general happiness positively. Analyses with other measures of quality of life, however, suggest that the effect of marital status is moderated by gender; for men, being married negatively affects the quality of life, while the effect is positive for women. This latter finding contrasts with what had been reported in some studies conducted in the U.S. The results are highly indicative of the inequality and the division of labor based on gender.