Abstract

This study examines how individual attitudes towards government and society are affected by political conservatism and liberalism. With survey data from 533 adults(M=249, F=284) who live in Seoul and surrounding areas, we examine the general attitudes towards society, expectation on general government and differences in attitudes towards the Roh Moo-hyun Gov't and the Lee Myung-bak Gov't between liberals and conservatives. Results show that liberals and conservatives vary by age and residence, whereas attitudes towards the general government and society are not. By contrast, liberals and conservatives are distinctly different evaluating governments with specific political tendency. Liberals are more positive to the Roh Moo-hyun Gov't than conservatives whereas the evaluation appears conversely on the Lee Myung-bak Gov't. These differences of attitudes are more distinctive when dividing liberals and conservatives by subjective judgement and political party preference than conceptual measurement of political ideology. These findings suggest that political conservatism and liberalism is the factor that has powerfully affected individual attitudes in the specific political context rather than a consistent ideological framework in Korean society.