• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.263-283
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• 2016

The present study aimed at examining the factor structure, reliability and validity of the Korean version of the Continuing Bonds Scale (K-CBS). In study 1, exploratory factor analysis was administered to 293 bereaved adults who had experienced the death of a loved one, and it revealed a single factor structure with 10 items that explained 52.59% of the total variance. The K-CBS showed good internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha of .92. In study 2, confirmatory factor analysis in a different sample of 200 bereaved adults indicated satisfactory standardized regression weights of all items. However, one item had a squared multiple correlation less than .40, hence, this item was discarded, and 9 items remained for the final scale. The single factor model with 9 items displayed a good fit. The K-CBS had strong positive correlation with grief symptoms, and weak positive correlation with depression. After controlling for grief, however, the K-CBS was predictive of a decrease in depression. The K-CBS was positively associated with posttraumatic growth. In addition, significant differences in scores of the K-CBS were shown among groups based on the deceased's relation to the bereaved and expectedness of loss. These results suggest that the K-CBS is a reliable and valid instrument to measure continuing bonds. Finally, implications, limitations, and directions for future research were discussed.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.325-351
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• 2019

The present study examined patterns of co-occurrence between DSM-5 posttraumatic stress disorder(PTSD) symptoms and posttraumatic growth(PTG) among Korean populations(n= 860). Latent profile analysis was used to identify subclasses and suggested that the 3-class model fit best: (1) Low PTSD/Mild PTG group (2) Low PTSD/High PTG group; (3) High PTSD/High PTG group. Class membership was predicted by demographic variables, social isolation, and frequency of traumatic experiences. Classes also differed with respect to self-destructive behaviors(binge eating, non-suicidal self-injury, and problem drinking). These findings contribute to future research about the coexisting patterns of PTSD and PTG, and to identify high-risk individuals who suffer from trauma-related problems in clinical practice.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.119-135
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• 2016

We tried to develop the school violence prevention program which focuses on the bystanders. In the context of school violence, most students are bystanders. They can either reinforce the violence or stop the violence. We hypothesized that the students who know their own temperament dimensions such as novelty seeking, harm avoidance, and reward dependence (Cloninger, 1994) will show more tendencies to defend victims from school violence when they learned the methods to prevent school violence in accordance to their temperament dimensions. 351 Korean middle school students participated the 4 sessions of school violence prevention program. The students completed the questionnaires to identify their own behavior in school violence situations. In the experimental group(temperament group), students learned the methods to help the victims that suits with their own temperaments. Whereas, the comparison group just attend the class regardless of their temperaments. Both groups showed significant increase in the trend of defending the victims. However, the temperament group showed more tendency to protect/defend the victims than the comparison group when they faced with school violence. These results show that students can learn the methods of defending victims from school violence more easily by knowing their own temperament dimensions, and can be the prepared and the effective defenders.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.553-576
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of retirement stress, character strengths and marital dissatisfaction on depression. Additionally this study examined direct effects and indirect effects of character strengths and marital dissatisfaction. The participant group was composed of 197 retired men living in Daegu and Gyongsangbuk-do. The Retirement Stress Scale (RSS), Character Strengths Test (CST), Korean Marital Satisfaction Inventory (K-MSI), and Center for Epistemology Studies Depression scale (CES-D) were administered to participants. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with AMOS was used for the purpose of analysis. The results of the study were as follows. First, an increase in retirement stress was associated with higher levels of depression. Second, hierarchical regression analysis indicated that higher levels of optimism significantly predicted higher depression. Also hierarchical regression analysis indicated that lower levels of appreciation of beauty and excellence without optimism significantly predicted higher depression. Furthermore, increases in marital dissatisfaction were associated with higher levels of depression. Third, the constructed model including both direct effects and indirect effects appeared to fit better than alternative model in explaining relationships between retirement stress and depression. In other words, character strengths and marital dissatisfaction appeared to affect the depression levels of retired men directly and indirectly. To sum up, this study demonstrated that the factors which had an effect on depression in retired men, character strengths and harmonious marital relationships appeared to act as a buffer against depression in retired men. The current results might serve as basic data for psychological well-being programs for retired men. Finally, the limitations and implications of the current study were discussed.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.235-260
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• 2012

This study was aimed at looking into and understanding child-rearing experience of mothers from multicultural families based on the grounded theory, one of the qualitative research methods. For this, twelve mothers from multicultural families were selected and data were collected through in-depth interviews with them and then analyzed through the open coding, axial coding and selective coding. The analysis suggested that main phenomena mothers from multicultural families experienced are the conflict of child-rearing and educational crisis, and the confused identity of parenting. These main phenomena had much to do with contextual factors such as economic hardship, lower level of the Korean language, cultural differences, prejudices and ignorance. The severeness of conflict and crisis of child-rearing and the intensity of identity confusion for parenting depended on arbitral conditions such as family bonds, positive expectation for the future of their children, and the help of supportive systems. Mothers were dealing with difficulties of child-rearing through action and interaction of resignation and denial, introspection and the intention to overcome difficulties, and the capacity building. As a result, mothers from multicultural families acknowledged that there is a limit to their position and roles they can play and tried to change in order to resolve problems related to their children, positioning themselves for more active lives in Korean society. Through discussion based on the findings of the study, this study can help better understand child-rearing experience of mothers from multicultural families and suggest several directions for future researches on multicultural families.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.63-79
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• 2011

The purpose of the present study is to examine effects of anger expression and perceived emotional competence on school anger in adolescents. The participants were 304 high school students (134 males, 170 females). They were administered the anger-related subscales (anger-out, anger-in, and anger control) of the Korean Version of the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI-K), the Korean Version of Trait Meta-Mood Scale (K-TMMS), and the Korean Version of School Anger Inventory(SAI-K). The results showed that school anger positively correlated with anger-out and anger-in, and negatively correlated with anger control and perceived emotional competence. Neither interaction effects of anger-out and perceived emotional competence nor interaction effects of anger-in and perceived emotional competence on school anger were significant. On the contrary, interaction effects of anger control and perceived emotional competence on school anger were significant. The results of post-hoc analysis revealed that the effect of anger control on school anger was significant in the case of high perceived emotional competence but not significant in the case of low perceived emotional competence. Based on these results, it was suggested that psychological programs designed to reduce school anger in adolescents need effective measures to enhance not only anger control skills but also perceived emotional competence.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.203-234
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• 2013

This study was performed to clarify 'jajonshim' which is different from self-esteem in its social representation and concept in Korean society. In order to refine the notion of 'jajonshim', we first referred to literature and short essay on jajonshim and analyzed its cultural meaning and social representation in Korea. As a result, jajonshim was considered necessary condition for human beings in Korean culture. Although jajonshim was not well recognized normally, it became critical when it was threatened by others and considered to be what one must save as well. Furthermore, the ground theory designed by Strauss and Corbin was utilized in order to analyze Korean interviewees' experience of jajonshim. Koreans believed that their jajonshim was injured when others disrespected their values, which consequently produced negative emotions. When their jajonshim was damaged, people also used 3 coping strategies to recover it. Based on the results, jajonshim was distinguished from self-esteem. First, jajonshim is a type of self-awareness people experience when they are disrespected; thus, it is different from self-esteem which is maintained stable regardless of any events or situations. Second, unlike self-esteem which is solely evaluated by oneself, jajonshim is evaluated by other people's point of view. This study shows that jajonshim exists in the context of Korean culture and has significance in clarifying the cognitive structure and experience process of jajonshim.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.241-260
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• 2011

This study was to develop the fun perception scale measuring what conditions employees experience fun feeling in work and to examine the construct validity of it. For this, the pre-studies(open-ended questionnaire, in-depth interviews, literature survey, pre-survey) were conducted to develop the preliminary questions of fun scale. In main study, 250 employees(male: 125, female, 125) were responded to a questionnaire consisted of 40 questions of fun perception scale extracted by pre-studies. The results were as follow. First, through the item analysis, factor analysis and reliability analysis, 7 factors composed of 29 items were extracted: 'self-determination', 'extrinsic reward', 'goal achievement', 'pleasure in the process', 'contribution to the company', 'worthless', 'challenge'. Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient of each factor was suitable. Secondly, EFA was conducted to test the construct validity of fun scale with AMOS 16.0. Several goodness of fit indexes were used to assess model fit: X2/df, TLI, CFI, RMSEA. The results were revealed that all the indexes were acceptable with no additional modification. Based on these findings, the theoretical and the practical implications of fun perception scale were discussed.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.27-51
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• 2012

The current paper examines the effect of collectivism on perceived youth unemployment anxiety as well as mental health and the mediating effects of employment self-efficacy; self-esteem; and the frequency of upward and downward social comparisons. In Study 1, data were gathered from 179 university students in upper-ranking schools and middle-ranking schools in Seoul, Korea. Our results indicated that (a) collectivism was positively correlated to, and also an significant predictor of perceived youth unemployment anxiety and mental health and (b) employment self-efficacy and self-esteem had mediating effects on the relationship between collectivism and perceived youth unemployment anxiety and mental health. In Study 2, data were gathered from 118 students in upper-ranking schools in Seoul, Korea. Our results indicated that (c) upward social comparison had mediating effects on the relationship between collectivism and perceived youth unemployment anxiety and mental health, while downward social comparison did not. The findings are discussed in terms of their general implications for understanding the importance of culture in employment seeking settings.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.329-347
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• 2012

Criminal media such as dramas and movies are growing in popularity. However, the effects of criminal media as well as its psychological mechanism are not clearly examined. Based on social learning theory (Bandura, 1978), past studies showed that arrest and punishment to the criminal in media have a suppressing effect. The present research examined the ironic possibility that media coverage of punishment could increase the audience's criminal intention and proposed the mediating role of counterfactual thinking in the effect. We hypothesized that when punishment was depicted as accidental rather than unavoidable in media coverage, perceived high mutability and counterfactuals focusing on the accidental factors could clarify the ways to commit the crime without being caught and subsequently increase future criminal intention. In this study, 95 college students read a story of plagiarizing either no, accidental, or inevitable punishment, and later asked to report their intention to plagiarize. An ANCOVA with participants' own history of plagiarism as a covariate found that the intention of plagiarism in future was significantly different. The results showed that the intention of plagiarism in the accidental punishment condition was higher than that in the inevitable punishment condition. Further, the intention of plagiarism in the accidental punishment condition was the same level with non-punishment condition. The findings suggest that whether criminals are caught or not is not enough to reduce criminal intentions of audience, but how criminals are caught matters.