• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.253-277
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to identify work-family balance values(work-family centrality, marriage value, child-care value, work value etc) in Korea, Japan and U. K.. Moreover, This article investigated the attitudinal generational gap in each countries. Participants were 311 Korean, 324 Japanese and 322 English married working women, who were in the thirties fifties. The major findings of this study were as follows. Compared to Japan and U. K., Korean married working women were more work-centered and likely to seek for extrinsic work value as well as intrinsic work value. While they were highly thought that a woman should work despite of her marriage, it was also strongly concerned if their work negatively affected family life, they should be better to quit their job. These results showed that conservative-liberal values were coexisted in Korean participants. Secondly, U. K. participants were more centered on the family-oriented value and thought that women were not necessary to work in work-family conflict, in comparison to Korean and Japanese. As a result of cluster analysis, they were a lot distributed in 'woman's family care oriented group' which was weigh on woman's role as a family care giver as well as 'family value oriented group'. Thirdly, Japan participants not only were less family-centered but also less work-centered. In the similar vein, they were less motivated and oriented to all of intrinsic and extrinsic work values compared with participants in Koran and U. K. On the other hand, Japanese participants, in sharp contrast to Korean, had a liberal viewpoint in work-family related values, such as woman's work, career break caused by work-family conflict, and family values. We were trying to interpret these results in consideration of socio-economic-politic as well as psychological aspects.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.285-318
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• 2013

The purpose of this research is to examine the self-concept in the cyberspace, self-efficacy, relationship with friends, subjective well-being and academic grade among adolescents who are addicted to Internet and those who are not addicted to Internet. A total of 1,057 adolescents (male=545, female=512), 326 from middle school, 361 from high school, and 370 from special education school, participated in the study. The results are as follows. First, qualitative analysis of the conception of self in the cyberspace indicates that those adolescents addicted to Internet reported that in the cyberspace they have fun, followed by they are the same as in real life, they spend time in cyberspace and they can become an imaginary person. Those adolescents not addicted to Internet reported that in the cyberspace they are the same as in real life, followed by they spend time in cyberspace and they can become an imaginary person. When they play Internet games, majority of adolescents in both groups reported that it is fun, followed by they become engrossed and they become aggressive. Second, those adolescents who are not addicted to Internet had higher scores on self-efficacy than those adolescents who are addicted to Internet, including self-regulatory efficacy for learning, relational efficacy, and resiliency of efficacy. Third, the number of friends and close friends that adolescents who are not addicted to Internet were not significantly different from those adolescents who are addicted to Internet. However, those adolescents who are not addicted to Internet were more likely receive social support from friends and were less likely to be social excluded than those adolescents who are addicted to Internet. Fourth, those adolescents who are not addicted to Internet had significantly higher scores on subjective well-being than those adolescents who are addicted to Internet. Fifth, those adolescents who are not addicted to Internet had significantly higher scores on both subjective and objective academic grade than those adolescents who are addicted to Internet.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.219-239
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• 2022

The study investigated the relationship between subjective socioeconomic status (SES) of 508 Korean adults and their perception of justice (distributive and procedural justice for self and general others), and verified whether there is a moderating effect of age (20s versus 30s and over). A self-report survey on SES and perception of justice was conducted. Then, using the SPSS 27 and PROCESS Macro 4.0 program, a correlation analysis looking into the relationship among the study variables was performed along with the ANOVAs comparing the mean differences of study across age-groups to support the group division criteria. Next, a moderation analysis was conducted. The main results of this study are as follows. First, the participants' SES showed a positive relationship with all sub-factors of justice perception and a negative relationship with age. Second, age had a inverse relationship on distributive justice for self and general others, and procedural justice for self, but a non significant relationship on procedural justice for general others. Third, when looking into the mean differences of the research variables according to age, the 20s had different characteristics compared to the 30s and over. In comparison, there were no significant differences within the 30s and over group. Fourth, the moderating effect of age in the relationship between subjective SES and perception of justice was positively significant in the case of distributive justice for self and procedural justice for general others. In the case of distributive justice for self, the positive slope of the graph in which subjective SES predicts distributive fairness for self was steeper in the 30s and older group compared to the 20s. Regarding the procedural justice for general others, subjective SES was not a significant predictor in the 20s group. However, SES positively predicted procedural justice in the 30s and older group. This study is meaningful since it suggested age differences in subjective SES and perceptions of justice by revealing the different relationship patterns of subjective SES and perception of justice according to age.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.595-622
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• 2016

This study aims to understand the process of family reunion of the ex-offenders. To this end, Korea Rehabilitation Agency under Ministry of Justice and Healthy Family Support Center conducted intensive interviews with ex-offenders, their families and with 8 counselors who are in charge of ex-offenders and their families' residential, psychological, and educational support. The data collected through the interviews were analyzed by Consensus Qualitative Research(COR). The followings are the results: the counselors found out that most of ex-offenders had experienced unhappy childhood which was lack of healthy relationship with their parents. Secondly, counselors noticed a common feature among the families of ex-offenders. The common feature was that they keep the fact that one of their parents was imprisoned to their children as a secret. Thirdly, through the data analysis, counselors could understand various factors that affect reunion of ex-offenders' families: the factors that helped successful reunion were ex-offenders' sense of responsibility, open and healthy communication among family members, and mutual understanding of being a good family member, whereas, irresponsible dependance to other family members, denier and avoidance from the family members against ex-offenders, and lost sense of being a family member were the factors that discouraged the reunion. It turned out that the kinds of crime that ex-offenders committed also affected family reunion. The processes of reunion were easier for those who served their time with fraud, embezzlement, whereas, it was much more challenging for those who served their time with rape, violence, or murder. Fourthly, counselors learned that "relaxation" is the key factor in the process of reunion of ex-offenders' families. They also emphasized that there should be thorough monitoring process before the intervention in the reunion process. This study contributes in terms of finding healthy ways of intervention with ex-offenders' families and developing programs that help ex-offenders to recover their relationship with their family.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.435-462
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• 2012

The predominant concern of the study centers on: (1) the direct effects of the job satisfaction, social support and hope on the individual's quality of life; (2) the direct effect of hope alone on the individual's quality life; (3) the mediating effect of the hope between the job satisfaction/social support and life quality; (4) the moderating effect of the worker's legal status(legal labors Vs. illegal labors) on each causal relationship. Research is based on a survey conducted with 453 Mongolian immigrant workers(333 legal workers, 120 illegal workers) from 10 cities including Seoul. In order for respondents to address research questions, structural equation models are explored. A variety of tests are conducted(metric invariance test, critical ratio for difference test, multi-group analysis, bias-corrected boot-strapping, latent mean analysis including Cohen's effect test). The noticeable findings are as follow: First, both job satisfaction and social support have a positive influence respectively on the individual's hope and the individual's quality of life. Second, we found a partial mediating effect of hope between both job satisfaction/social support and the individual's life quality. Third, we failed to find a moderating effect of the workers' legal status on each causal relationship. Finally, there is no significant difference of the latent means of each latent variable -job satisfaction, social support, hope, and life quality - between the legal group and the illegal group, except the latent mean of workers' quality of life. A range of practical and political implications are discussed based on the study's findings.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.399-429
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• 2009

The purpose of this research examines the factors that influence happiness among Korean adolescents by focusing on psychological resource (as measured by self-efficacy), relational resource (as measured by social support) and financial resource (as measured by family's monthly income). In addition, the influence of academic achievement on happiness is examined. To examine the influence of socio-economic status and family's monthly income, adolescents living in three different districts in Seoul (from working to middle to upper class districts) were randomly selected and interviewed in their home. A total of 190 elementary school, middle school, high school and university students (male=83, female=107) completed the resiliency of efficacy scale developed by Bandura (1995) and emotional support and happiness scale developed by the present researchers, in addition to background information. The results of the path analysis are as follows. First, the most important predictor of happiness among Korean adolescents is relational resources. In other words, emotional support received from significant others was most predictive of happiness; more than 60 times the effect of family's monthly income, three times the effect of academic achievement, and two times the effect of resiliency of efficacy. The second most important factor that predicted the happiness of Korean adolescents was psychological resource (i.e., resiliency of efficacy), which had 30 times the effect of family's monthly income. In addition resiliency of efficacy played a mediating role between emotional support on one hand and happiness on the other. Third, those respondents who had higher academic achievement reported higher levels of happiness, which had 20 times the effect of family's monthly income. Fourth, family monthly income did not predict happiness among Korean adolescents. Fifth, socio-economic status and school level did not have direct influence on happiness but had mediating influence through their influence on emotional support. In other words, those respondents with higher socio-economic status and elementary school students were more likely to receive social support from significant others, which in turn increased their happiness. These results indicate that the most important predictor of happiness among Korean adolescents is emotional support, followed by resiliency of effic acy and academic achievement, indicating that those adolescents from wealthy families are not necessarily happier.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.537-567
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• 2023

This study compared the nature of disgust caused by the crime scene with that by the stereotype of the sexual-minority defendant, and compared the effect of each type of disgust on evidence evaluation and legal judgment. A total of 600 participants (300 men, average age of 44.40) were randomly assigned to sources of disgust (crime scene, sexual minorities defendant, control condition), the existence of additional evidence of innocence (o/x), and the existence of judicial directives (o/x). As a result of the study, disgust under the condition of a cruel crime scene with strong physical disgust was significantly higher than that of the sexual minority defendant, interpreted the evidence in a more guilty direction, and was more prone to_evaluate that the defendant was guilty. It is noteworthy that evidence evaluation was a significant moderating variable between disgust and probability of guilt under conditions where the source of disgust was a sexual minority, but not under control conditions and crime scene condition. It means that the effect of disgust on legal judgment may not be direct when the defendant is a sexual minority. In addition, the existence of the judicial instruction had a significant inverse effect on the sentence. And simple effect analysis found that presenting judicial instruction lowered probability of guilt only under the control condition. This makes it reasonable to infer that disgust derived from the characteristics of the crime scene and the defendant can be recognized as integral emotions that are difficult to correct with instructions. Finally, pity for the defendant was significantly higher under the conditions of sexual minority which shows that an emotional response of sympathy may occur in addition to disgust for sexual minorities. After examining the nature of disgust (physical & moral), legal judgment according to the source and degree of disgust was reviewed. In addition, the meaning of disgust and sympathy for the sexual minority defendant was discussed.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.291-318
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• 2009

The purpose of this study was to find out the impact of psycho-social factors (social relationship and personal) as well as illness history and economic status on physical health and subjective well-being among the retired Koreans elderly. Data were collected from 1,315 elders (mean age = 72.70yrs) residing in Seoul and Chuncheon regional area via interviews(Time 1), and them were re-interviewed two year later(Time 2). Multiple regression analyses indicated that the retired elders' illness history, economic status, marital satisfaction, fulfillment of self-esteem need, drinking behavior, positive affectivity, negative affectivity and physical health to predict their subjective well-being at Time 1(R²=.705). The retired elders' economic status, marital satisfaction, positive affectivity, negative affectivity and physical health to predict their subjective well-being at Time 2(R²=.418). The retired elders' illness history, economic status, expectations for one's offspring, drinking behavior and subjective well-being to predict their physical health at Time 1(R²=.364). And the retired elders' illness history, economic status, marital satisfaction, positive affectivity and negative affectivity to predict their physical health at Time 2(R²=.265). In case of retired elderly, suggested for the psycho-social determenants of subjective well-being and physical health by occupational classification. The implications of this study and the suggestions for furture study were discussed.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.85-127
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• 2006

This study examines the formation and change of relational trust among Korean adolescents using indigenous psychological perspective. Among adolescents, we examine the basis of trust of their parents, friends and teacher and also their trust in people and institutions. A total of 968 adolescents (227 elementary, 284 middle school, 213 high school, and 244 university students) completed a questionnaire that contains the Relational Trust Scale developed by Kim and Park (2004a), Generalized Trust Scale developed by Yamagishi (1998) and a scale measuring trust of people and institutions (Kim, Helgesen & Ahn, 2002). The results are as follows. First, adolescents trust their parents due to their sacrifice, followed by their counsel and advice, dependability, consanguinity and respects. They trust their teachers due to their counsel and advice, followed by respect, sacrifice, and mutual trust. They trust their friends due to their advice, followed by empathy, mutual trust, dependability, friendship and sacrifice. Second, trust of their parents are highest among the elementary school students and lowest for the middle school students and lower for older age groups. The trust in teachers are highest among the elementary school students and lowest among the middle school and university students. In contrast, trust in friends increase from elementary school students to older age groups. Third, among trust in people and institutions, they are highest for parents and family and lowest for politicians and political parties. Except for trust in friends, trust of significant others and institutions (family, teachers, neighbors, company executives and politicians) is highest among the youngest age group and it decreases with older age group. Fourth, Yamagishi's generalized trust was highest among the older age groups (high school and university students). The patterns of results for relational trust and generalized trust is different and it points to the importance of understanding trust from the indigenous psychological perspective.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.12 no.5_spc
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• pp.81-98
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• 2006

The objective of this research is to do a cultural comparison on the daily lives of the children of Korea, Japan and China. To achieve this objective, the questionnares were distributed to the 2940 mothers of children from the ages of 3 to 6 in the countries of Korea, Japan and China. The target audience consisted of 941 mothers living in Seoul and Kyunggi area for Korea, 1007 mothers living in Tokyo for Japan, and 992 mothers living in Beijing for China. As a result of the research, we found out that firstly, although children in general got up anytime between 7:00am to 9:00am and went to bed between 8:00pm and 11:00pm, 61.5% of the Korean children went to bed after 10pm and 16.8% after 11pm. Besides that, we found that compared to 3.51% of Korean children who got up before 6am, 13.41% of Japanese children and 17.24% of Chinese children got up before 6:00am. So we could see that the Korean children got up later and went to bed later than their Japanese and Chinese counterpart. This pattern could also be seen in the average rising time and bed time. Korean children went to bed at 10:00pm and woke up at 7:75am whereas the Japanese children went to bed at 9:28pm and woke up at 7:39am, and the Chinese children went to bed at 9:05pm and woke up at 7:05am. The average sleeping hours for Japanese children was 10.12 hours, 9.50 hours for the Chinese and 9.75 hours for the Korean. As a result, we could see that the Korean children went to bed later, got up later and slept fewer hours than their Japanese and Chinese counterparts. Also, since the rising time and bedtime of the Korean children was later than those of the Chinese and Japanese counterparts, the former s' breakfast and dinner time was also much later. Secondly, we looked at the time children went off to and came back from institutes such as kindergarten and child care centers. The Chinese were earliest at going with average attendance at 7:83am, the Japanese came next at 8:59am and the Korean children were last at 8:90am, whereas the Japanese came first in coming back home at 3:36pm, Korean next at 3:91pm and the Chinese last at 5:46pm. Next when we looked at the hours spent at the kindergartens and child care centers, Japan spent 6.76 hours, Korea 7.01 hours and China spent the longest hours with 9.63 hours. Excluding China where all preschool institutes are centralized into kindergartens, we nest looked at time children went to and came back from the institutes as well as the time spent there. In the case of kindergarten, there was not much difference but in the case of child care centers, the Japanese children went to the child care centers mach earlier and came home later than the Korean children. Also, the time spent at the child care center was much longer for the Japanese than the Korean children. This fact coincides with the Korean mothers' number one wish to the kindergartens and child care centers i.e. for the institutes to prolong their school hours. Thus, the time spent at child care centers for Korea was 7.75 hours, 9.39 hours for Japan and 9.63 hours for China. The time for Korea was comparatively much shorter than that of Japan and China but if we consider the fact that 50% of the target audience was working mothers, we could easily presume that the working parents who usually use the child care centers would want the child care centers to prolong the hours looked after their children. Besides this, the next most wanted wish mothers have towards the child care centers and kindergartens was for those institutes to "look after their children when sick". This item showed high marks in all three countries, and the marks in Korea was especially higher when compared to Japan and China. Thirdly, we looked at the private extracurricular activities of the children. We found that 72.6% of the Korean children, 61.7% of the Japanese children, and 64.6% of the Chinese children were doing private extracurricular activities after attending kindergarten or day care centers. Amongst the private extracurricular activities done by Korean children, the most popular one was worksheet with 51.9% of the children doing it. Drawing (15.20%) and English (11.6%) came next. Swimming (21.95%) was the most popular activity for Japan, with English (17.48%), music (15,79%) and sports (14.70%) coming next. For China, art (30.95%) was first with English (22.08%) and music (19.96%) following next. All three countries had English as the most popular activity related to art and physical activities after school hours, but the rate for worksheet studies was much higher for Korea compared to Japan China. The reason Koreans universally use worksheet in because the parents who buy the worksheet are mothers who have easy access to advertisement or salespeople selling those products. The price is also relatively cheap, the worksheet helps the children to grow the basic learning ability in preparation for elementary school, and it is thought to help the children to build the habit of studying everyday. Not only that but it is estimated that the worksheet education is being conducted because parents can share the responsibility of the children's learning with the worksheet-teacher who make home visits. Looking at the expenses spent on private extracurricular activities as compared to income, we found that China spent 5% of income for activities outside of regular education, Korea 3% and Japan 2%. Fourthly, we looked at the amount of time children spent on using multimedia. The majority of the children in Korea, Japan and China watch television almost every day. In terms of video games, the Japanese children played the games the most, with Korea and China following next. The Korean children used the computer the most, with Japan and China next. The Korean children used about 21.17% of their daily time on computers which is much more than the Japanese who used 20.62% of their time 3 or 4 times a week, or the Chinese. The Chinese children were found to use considerably less time on multimedia compared to the Korean of Japanese.