How Are School Gender Composition and Peer Relationships Associated with Perceived Gender Conflict and Political Interest among South Korean Adolescents?

Abstract

This study examines how school gender composition and peer relationship orientations are associated with adolescents’ perceptions of gender conflict and political interest. Using nationally representative data from the 2023 Survey on Youth Values in South Korea, we estimate multilevel Generalized Structural Equation Models linking school type, same-sex and cross-sex friendship importance, perceived gender conflict, and political interest. The results show that students in all-boys schools report more severe perceptions of gender conflict than students in coeducational schools, whereas the corresponding difference for all-girls schools is not statistically significant. Cross-sex friendship importance is negatively associated with perceived gender conflict, while same-sex friendship importance is positively associated with perceived gender conflict. Perceived gender conflict, in turn, is positively associated with political interest. These findings highlight how institutional and relational contexts are linked to the political salience of gender conflict during adolescence.