The Multidimensionality of Meritocratic Beliefs in Korea: Evidence from the Issp 2009 Data

In the rise of neoliberalism and populism, meritocracy is one of the concepts that has been actively discussed in public discourse across countries. Public and scholarly attention has been heavily focused on popular beliefs in effort-based meritocracy (i.e., “Hard work will bring success”). The present study directs scholarly attention toward a multifaceted definition of meritocratic beliefs. Building on prior studies that heavily focused on a few countries such as the United States, China, and European countries (Kwon and Pandian 2024; Reynolds and Xian 2014; Zhu 2024), I analyzed the Korean data from the ISSP 2009 with latent class analysis (LCA) and demonstrated the multidimensionality of meritocratic beliefs among Koreans. Three configurations of meritocratic beliefs are found in South Korea: (1) ambivalent dual consciousness, where respondents strongly endorse three meritocratic elements (hard work, ambition, and one’s educational qualification) while moderately endorsing the three non-meritocratic, structuralist elements (wealthy family, well-educated parents, and political connection), (2) instrumental dual consciousness, where respondents strongly attribute one’s success to both meritocratic elements and non-meritocratic elements, and (3) effort-focused meritocratic beliefs, where individuals attribute success to personal hard work and ambition but do not endorse other elements. In addition, the membership in each group is related to one’s level of education and subjective social class: compared to those with lower education and who identify with the lower class, those with a college degree and who identify with the middle class are more likely to hold dual consciousness than effort-focused meritocratic beliefs. This finding suggests the need for a more nuanced understanding of Koreans' meritocratic beliefs.