• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.205-233
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• 2014

This study aims to identify work conflicts in Korean socio-cultural context by applying grounded theory. Survey has been conducted through in-depth interviews with 11 different employees from various occupational categories. Data collected from the survey were then analyzed based on the grounded theory of Strauss and Corbin (1998), thus resulted in a paradigm model consisting of 31 categories, 63 subcategories, and 100 concepts by open coding. Axial coding was then conducted and the results were as follows. The causal condition was the 'character of an opponent'. Contextual conditions which affect the causal condition were 'situational characteristics', 'character of an opponent', 'character of oneself', and their 'mutuality'. 'Negative feeling' was the central phenomena of work conflict and action/interaction strategies were verified to be 'avoidance', 'expression', 'effort toward solving problems' and 'increasing conflict'. Intervening conditions were 'interrelation', 'intervention', and 'group/task characteristics'. The consequences were organized as 'conflict continuance', 'personnel change' and 'positive effect'. Through selective coding, 'managing with the conflict' was derived as core-category and three different types of management were classified. Ultimately, this study shows how employees work in Korea experience the work conflicts and what kinds of socio-cultural factors have influence on the work conflicts, which can supplement previous inadequate empirical research. Also, this study can provide implications and suggestions as a fundamental integrated model for the future empirical research on work conflicts.

• The Korean Journal of Woman Psychology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.679-704
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• 2012

The purpose of this study was to have a phenomenological understanding of the experiences in the marital relationship after the first baby is born. For this purpose, thirteen couples (marriage duration of less than five years; within three years of the child birth) were recruited and semi-structured interviews were conducted. The interview data were analyzed through the open coding, axial coding, and selective coding. In the next step, we derived the marital relationship paradigm after the first baby arrived. The causal/situational conditions that caused changes in the marital relationship were the parenting burden and the marital adjustment level. The central phenomena were parenting and housework burden, which were moderated by the husbands' support. The action/interaction strategies were couple's high awareness and acceptance for their new role and pursuit of the shared meaning of the family. When the strategies were successful, a deeply satisfying feeling and shared values could be obtained. Finally, we identified the core category to integrate of other categories into a conceptual framework, and that is 'the awareness and acceptance for their new role and the pursuit of a sense of We-ness'.