Article

The Relationship between Social Network Perception and Independence Intentions of Emerging Adults: Youth Life Survey Results

Author

Park Eun Joo, Park Jeong Yun

Information

pp. 57~71 / 2024 Vol.31 No.2

Abstract

This study aims to verify the influence of socio-demographic factors and social network perceptions on the independence intentions of emerging adults. Descriptive statistics, cross-tabulation analysis, and binary logistic regression were performed on a sample of 7,755 young adults living with their parents, selected from the 2022 Youth Life Survey conducted among male and female young adults aged 19 to 34 in 17 provincesnationwide. The results indicate the following. First, family was the primary source of assistance, and the perception of friends, public institutions, and private organizations was very low, indicating overall social network vulnerability among young adults. Second, sociodemographic characteristics such as gender, region, education, employment status, household income, as well as preferred social network sources and network size, weresignificantly associated with independence intentions. Third, the probability of independence intention increased as the size of the social network increased. This study empirically highlights the influence of young adults' social network perceptions on independence intentions and discusses the need for more sophisticated institutional support and improved delivery systems to promote the utilization of social networks.

Keywords