Perceptions of the Social Norms and Attitudes toward Family-Friendly Policies

Last registered on June 03, 2024
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Perceptions of the Social Norms and Attitudes toward Family-Friendly Policies
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0012988
Initial registration date
May 09, 2024

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
May 13, 2024, 12:28 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated
June 03, 2024, 7:46 AM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country
Korea (Republic of)
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Bongseop Kim
Affiliation
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Tammy Sunju Lee
PI Affiliation
University of Michigan
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2024-04-01
End date
2024-07-10
Keywords
Labor
Additional Keywords
Social Norms, Beliefs, Perceptions, Family-Friendly Policies
JEL code(s)
D83, J16, J18, C90
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
In this study, we aim to understand how beliefs about other people's attitudes influence individuals’ attitudes toward coworkers' use of family-friendly policies in the workplace, such as parental leave and flexible working hours for parents, in the context of South Korea. In Korea, taking of family-friendly policies in the workplace is lower than in other countries, and previous surveys conducted by the government suggest that a major barrier to individuals' taking these policies is the lack of supportive attitudes within the workplace.

This study tries to focus on the role of social norms in shaping attitudes toward coworkers' use of family-friendly policies. Recent studies have shown that one’s own attitudes and beliefs are strongly associated with (mis)perceptions about other’s attitudes and beliefs on the same issue (Bursztyn and Yang 2022). According to pilot surveys conducted by our team, employees in Korea tend to underestimate other employee’s support for their coworker's use of family-friendly policies in workplace, and there was a clear correlation between these beliefs about others and their own attitudes towards the policies.

Specifically, we will conduct a large-scale survey (n=2000) to explore the relationship between individuals’ beliefs about others’ support and their attitudes toward the policies. Through an information provision experiment, we will assess how providing objective information about others affects changes in beliefs and own attitudes toward policies.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Kim, Bongseop and Tammy Sunju Lee. 2024. "Perceptions of the Social Norms and Attitudes toward Family-Friendly Policies." AEA RCT Registry. June 03. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.12988-1.1
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We will conduct an online survey in South Korea. We will recruit a nationally representative sample of 2,000 employees (born in South Korea and aged between 19 and 59) in terms of age, gender, and region, through a survey company. The survey will take approximately 15 minutes.
Intervention Start Date
2024-07-01
Intervention End Date
2024-07-10

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Our primary outcomes of interest are 1) individuals' beliefs about the extent of others' support for the use of family-friendly policies, such as parental leave and flexible working hours for parents, and 2) their own level of support for these policies. We measure beliefs about others' support twice - before and after information treatments.

1) (Pre/Post Intervention) Beliefs about the extent to which other people support their coworkers who try to take on family-friendly policies
2) Own level of support for coworker who try to take on family-friendly policies

We will measure the above outcomes using realistic hypothetical scenarios. Specifically, we will measure outcomes for different scenarios based on 1) the gender of the worker who intends to use the policy, and 2) the extent to which firms are willing to hire replacement workers when an existing employee takes such policies. Each scenario is tailored to reflect the actual number of coworker in the respondent's current workplace (fewer than 5 employees, 5 to fewer than 20 employees, and 20 or more employees).
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Our secondary outcomes of interest are the intentions of the respondents to take the family-friendly policies in the workplace, and their intentions of family formation.

1) (For relevant respondents only) Intention to taking parental leave and flexible working hours for parents
2) (For relevant respondents only) Intention to marriage and having a baby
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Before randomization, we collect the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents, as well as their job characteristics. Next, in realistic hypothetical scenarios tailored by an actual number of coworkers in the respondent's current workplace, we measure respondents' beliefs about the extent of other employees' support for coworkers who try to take family-friendly policies.

Participants are then randomly assigned to treatment and control groups. The treatment groups receive information about the actual level of support from others for coworkers taking of policies. This information will be obtained from a separate survey planned to be conducted with 4,000 employees as part of another research by our team.

After reading the information, respondents are asked to provide their posterior beliefs about others and their own support for policy use.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Survey participants are randomly assigned to the treatment and control groups by the survey platform software used by the survey company.
Randomization Unit
Survey respondent
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
None
Sample size: planned number of observations
2,000 respondents
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
1,000 for each arm
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Seoul National University Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2024-01-14
IRB Approval Number
2401/001-007
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials