• Journal of Families and Better Life
• /
• v.24 no.2 s.80
• /
• pp.43-60
• /
• 2006

Using interviewing methods, this study was able to identify how fathering impacted the development of adult fathers between the ages of 28 and 45 through 1 to 2 hours. The subjects were 46 middle-class adult men's from the ages of 28 and 45. Twenty of the subjects had infants under the age of 36 months, thirteen had preschool children, 37 months to preschool, and the remaining fathers had primary school aged children. Results are as follows: First, fathering experiences impacted the development of self-identify, sense of intimacy, and sense of generativity during adulthood. Second, fathering experiences impacted the men's establishment of 'becoming-themselves.' Last, fathering experiences impacted the development of men's maturity.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.87-99
• /
• 2007

Using ethnographic methods, this study identifies the meaning of paternal experiences through a series of individual one to two hour interviews with men who have grandchildren. The interviewees consisted of twelve fathers from fifty to seventy years of age and the middle SES class. The results were as follows. First, adult-children-marriage and parent transitions were found to be important changes for men on their father's perception of their role as a father. Second, fathers with grandchildren felt happiness due to their grandchildren and held grandchildren as being important. Third, protecting and supporting their families was the main focus of paternity. Forth, the period of paternal experiences with grandchildren can be called "the stage of strong grandfather identity" because men who have grandchildren put more importance in the relationship with grandchildren than do their own adult-children, and grandchildren themselves play an important role in establishing male identity.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.105-135
• /
• 2002

The purpose of this study is to examine the experience of stress, coping and social support among students and their parents after Korea recovered from the recent economic crisis. A total of 634 students(primary school=135, junior high school=118, senior high school=168, and university=213) and 842 parents (fathers=421, mothers= 421), for a total of 1,476 participants, completed an open-ended questionnaire developed by the present researchers. For students, the most painful experience was related to problems in academic life, followed by problems in relationship. For father, the most painful experience was financial problems and for mothers, it was conflicts in the family. In stress situations, self-regulation was the most frequently adopted coping style by both students and adults. The second most frequently reported coping style was avoidance. In terms of social support, students reported receiving most support from friends, and the importance of friends became greater for the older students. Parents reported receiving most social support from their spouse. As for the type of social support, around half of students and parents reported receiving emotional support. Emotional support was viewed as being very important in reducing the stress experience related to academic life, problems in relationships, family conflict, and financial difficulties. The results of the present study will be compared to similar studies conducted before and during the economic crisis and the implications of these studies, as well as the importance of the indigenous Korean psychology, will be discussed.