Subjective class status and redistribution attitudes: The gendered sequential mediation of upward mobility expectations and meritocratic beliefs in Korean society

Abstract

This study examines how subjective class status perceptions of oneself and parents influence redistribution policy attitudes through sequential mediation by upward mobility expectations and meritocratic distribution attitudes in Korean society. Using path analysis on young adults aged 20–39 from the 2023 Inequality and Fairness Public Perception Panel Survey, we found that subjective class status perceptions do not directly affect redistribution policy attitudes but operate through complete mediation involving upward mobility expectations and meritocratic distribution attitudes. The analysis revealed significant gender differences: upward mobility expectations significantly influenced meritocratic distribution attitudes only among women, demonstrating a distinct gendered process. These findings provide empirical evidence for the POUM (Prospect of Upward Mobility) hypothesis and inequality paradox theory operating through gendered mechanisms within Korean context, demonstrating that inheritocracy phenomena involve transmission of “expectations” and “beliefs” beyond economic capital inheritance. Results suggest women’s educational achievements and upward mobility expectations more strongly mediate divergent redistribution attitudes through meritocratic worldviews, revealing gender-differentiated pathways underlying gendered patterns of political attitudes in contemporary Korean society.