Consequences of Submissive Loyalty Corporations - An Empirical Analysis of Korean Female Employees’ Perception

Sep 14, 2026

Uploaded by Mali

Rising female participation in Korea does not eliminate worklife strain rooted in a corporate climate shaped by collectivism, hierarchism, and seniority and masculine privilege. Traditional Confucian values underpin expectations that women handle housework and childcare, increasing difficulty balancing office duties with family responsibilities. The analysis conceptualizes acquiescence to overtime as submissive loyalty and links it to work-family conflict, which then reduces job and life satisfaction. Structural equation modeling supports these pathways.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages24

Reading Time1 h 0 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Korean corporate culture and work-family conflict

Study aims and conceptual framework

Methodology and analysis

Structural equation model findings

Consequences of Submissive Loyalty Corporations: An Empirical Analysis of Korean Female Employees’ Perception* Hwayeon Kim** and Taewoo Nam*** Abstract: The number of female employees in the Korean workforce has risen. However, the Korean corporate climate, characterized by collectivism, hierarchism, and senior and masculine privilege, leads them to experience worklife conflict and even halt their careers. This climate stems from a social and organizational culture deeply rooted in traditional Confucianism. In Korea, where housework and childcare have long been considered the province of women, female employees find it more difficult to balance office work and family life. The Korean corporate climate welcomes overtime work, and women who work outside the home must juggle this and family responsibilities. We conceptualize behavior such as acquiescing to overtime work as submissive loyalty and elucidate work-family conflict and decreasing job and life satisfaction as consequences thereof. The analysis, based on a structural equation model, revealed that submissive loyalty increases work-family conflict, which decreases job and life satisfaction. Keywords: submissive loyalty, work-life balance, job satisfaction, life satisfaction, Confucianism INTRODUCTION Korean women are increasingly offered more economic, social, and educational opportunities. However, one out of five Korean female workers quit their jobs to take up traditional women’s tasks such as childcare and housework (Yoon, 2016) . * This work was supported by the Ministry of Education of Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2016S1A3A2924956). ** Hwayeon Kim, first author, is a PhD candidate in the Graduate School of Governance, Sungkyunkwan University, [Korea. E-mail: hwayeon1222@gmail.com](Korea. E-mail: hwayeon1222@gmail.com). *** Taewoo Nam, corresponding author, is an associate professor in the Graduate School of Governance, Sungkyunkwan University, [Korea. E-mail: namtaewoo@gmail.com](Korea. E-mail: namtaewoo@gmail.com). Manuscript received May 21, 2019; out for review July 12, 2019; review completed August 16, 2019; accepted August 16, 2019. Korean Journal of Policy Studies, Vol. 34, No. 2 (2019), pp. 51-74. © 2019 by the GSPA, Seoul National University 52 Hwayeon Kim and Taewoo Nam They leave their workplaces because of a fear that they will not be able to balance work and family spheres. The Korean government regards this phenomenon as unfortunate for both individuals and the country and supports various work-family balance programs including maternity leave, parental leave, and flextime options (Baek, Kelly, & Jang, 2012; S. Kim, 2008; S. S. Lee, 2009; Patterson & Bae, 2013) . Despite these formal arrangements, a considerable portion of female workers still experience work-family conflict and eventually quit their jobs. Many studies attribute work-family conflict and career breaks to the unique organizational culture in Korea (e.g., S. Kim, 2008; Lee, Chang, & Kim, 2011; Patterson & Bae, 2013; Yoo, 2008) . The background to this culture is Confucianism, which has a long history in the country and instilled the values of collectivism, organizational order, personal sacrifice, seniority privilege, masculine privilege, and occupational discrimination (Park & Han, 2018; Sung, 2003) . Confucianism, which supports collectivism, patriarchy, and hierarchy, undermines the merit system, because on this worldview individuals are not to be rewarded for their effective performance of organizational tasks but for their commitment to Confucian values. This culture has detrimental effects on individuals and the country. Among the OECD countries, Korea has the longest working hours, which are not proportionate to national productivity, and the lowest quality of life level (see [http://www](http://www). [oecdbetterlifeindex.org/countries/korea](oecdbetterlifeindex.org/countries/korea)) .1 The detrimental effects

FAQs

What corporate climate factors drive work-family conflict for Korean female employees?

The study attributes conflict to collectivism, hierarchism, and seniority/masculine privilege shaped by traditional Confucian values that emphasize organizational order, sacrifice, and gendered responsibilities.

How does the study define “submissive loyalty”?

Submissive loyalty refers to acquiescing to organizational demands such as overtime without resisting or yielding humbly to authority.

What are the main consequences of submissive loyalty according to the analysis?

Submissive loyalty increases work-family conflict, which in turn decreases job satisfaction and life satisfaction.

Sep 14, 2026

Uploaded by Mali