Division of Labor, Gender Ideology and Marital Satisfaction: A Comparative Analysis of Mainland China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan

Yue Qian, Ohio State University

Using data from the 2006 Family Module of the East Asian Social Survey, we examine moderating effects of gender ideology on links between the division of labor and marital satisfaction across four East Asian societies—Mainland China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. Despite their cultural similarities, they differ substantially in gender inequalities and economic and political institutions. Hence, we conjecture these will produce macro variation in associations of housework and gender ideology on marital satisfaction. Descriptive results indicate housework is the least egalitarian in Japan, where individuals held more egalitarian gender ideology but also report the lowest marital satisfaction, compared with China, Korea, and Taiwan. Ordinal logistical regression models will be used to examine whether the relationship between the division of housework and marital satisfaction is stronger for individuals with egalitarian gender ideology and whether associations are more pronounced in China and Taiwan compared with Japan and Korea.