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Volume 90 – No. 3

Is Regional Animus in Decline in Korea? A Test of the Generational Difference and Geographical Mobility Hypothesis

Kyu S. Hahn
Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea

Jihye Lee
Stanford University, Stanford, USA

Seulji Jang
Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea

Inho Won
Newsjelly, Seoul, South Korea

Joonhwan Lee
Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea

Keywords: South Korea, regional attitudes, political preference, generational effects, geographical mobility, Implicit Association Test (IAT)

DOI: 10.5509/2017903505

  • English Abstract
  • Chinese Abstract

Since the 1987 democratic reform, regional attitudes toward the two southern provinces have been regarded as the most significant determinant of South Korean voters’ political preferences. In recent years, however, many scholars have speculated that regional animus is losing its ground as a basis for political judgment and will eventually be replaced by other politically relevant factors such as political ideology and issue preference. Others raise questions about the validity of this kind of “revisionist” argument, noting that election outcomes remain regionally divided. Adopting the implicit association test (IAT) as a measure of regional attitudes, we provide an empirical test to measure the effects of the emergence of new generations and geographical mobility in South Korean voters’ regional attitudes. Our results show that younger Korean voters are less regionally biased toward either of the two southern provinces. The only exception was the younger generation in the Honam region: they held even higher levels of animus toward Yeongnam than their older counterparts. Geographical mobility also seems to decrease regional bias. Those who have relocated to other provinces showed less regional bias when compared with the natives of Yeongnam and Honam still residing in their respective regions. Likewise, our results show that the inter-generational transfer of regional animus is not overwhelming. For the descendants of Yeongnam or Honam natives residing in another province, their family’s region of origin mattered little. In short, our findings suggest that changing generational composition and geographical mobility are likely to lessen the severity of regional animus and the political significance of regional attitudes will wane.

韩国的地域偏见是在消退中吗?对代际差异和地理流动性假设的一个检验

关键词:韩国,地域性态度,政治偏好,代际影响,地理流动性,内隐联想测验(IAT)。

自1987年民主改革以来,对南方两个省份的地域性看法一直被视为是决定韩国选民政治偏好的最重要的因素。然而近年来,许多学者推测认为地域偏见正在失去作为政治判断基础的重要性,而会逐渐被其他政治上相关的因素如政治意识形态和问题偏好所取代。而其他人则对这种“改良主义”论点的正确性提出了质疑,指出选举结果仍然保持着地区间的分化。采用内隐联想测验(IAT)方法来测量地区性态度,我们对新生代的出现和地理流动性对韩国选民的地区性态度的影响进行了经验性考察。测试结果显示,年轻的韩国选民对南方两省皆更少持有地域性的偏见。唯一例外的是湖南地区的年轻一代,他们甚至比同地区的老一代人对岭南地区的敌意更强。地理流动性似乎也会减少地域性的偏见。跟仍然居住在岭南和湖南地区的本地人相比,这两个地区搬到其他省份居住的居民分别都显示出较少的地域性偏见。与此相似,测验结果显示地域偏见的代际转移的影响并不是压倒性的。对于居住在其他省份的原岭南和湖南人的后裔来说,他们的家庭的地域起源基本上无关紧要。简言之,我们的发现表明,变化中的代际构成和地理流动性很可能会减轻地域性偏见的严重程度。地域性态度的政治重要性会逐渐消退。

Translated from English by Li Guo

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Last Revised: September 25, 2018
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