• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.523-530
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• 2011

This study aims to make a comparison between variables influencing female college students' body shame and appearance change intention in individualist culture(Germany) and collectivist culture(Korea, China), that which variable among individual's physical character(BMI), psychological character(public self-image), and sociocultural pressure has the biggest influence in each culture. The findings of the research are as follows. 1. The German group of female college students had the highest BMI, and there were no difference between Korean and Chinese group. Public self-consciousness, sociocultural pressure, ideal appearance attitude, body shame, and appearance change intention were highest in Korea and lowest in Germany. 2. The variables that affected body shame were powerful in the order of sociocultural pressure, appearance internalization, BMI, and appearance awareness in the Korean group of female college students. In the Chinese group, the order was sociocultural pressure, appearance internalization, and public self-consciousness. On the contrary, in the German group the order was appearance internalization, appearance awareness, sociocultural pressure, and public self-consciousness. 3. The variables that affected appearance change intention were powerful in the order of sociocultural pressure, body shame, and appearance awareness in the Korean group of female college students. In the Chinese group, the order was sociocultural pressure, body shame, and appearance awareness, and in the German group, the order was appearance internalization, body shame, and BMI.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.58 no.10
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• pp.112-122
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• 2008

The purposes of this study were to verify how internalization of ideal beauty stereotype and objectified body consciousness by sociocultural pressure factors had an influence on body satisfaction and examine the relation between body satisfaction and appearance management behavior. To achieve the purposes, a survey was conducted to 419 female adults, whose ages were from 18 to 29. Data were analyzed by structure equation modeling of Amos 4.0 and SPSS 10.0 program. The results of this study were summarized as follows: First, there were significant differences in sociocultural pressure, objectified body consciousness, internalization of ideal beauty stereotype, body satisfaction and appearance management behavior variables. Second, sociocultural pressure factors such as, family, friends, media had a positive effect on objectification that female adults saw themselves from the viewpoint of a watcher; when females more highly recognized sociocultural pressure like family, friends and media, their satisfaction with body became lower. Third, when females had high tendency of objectification and high body satisfaction, they affirmatively managed their appearance.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.34 no.10
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• pp.1731-1741
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• 2010

Personal appearance attitude about the ideal beauty is influenced by the context of the culture one belongs to. In a cultural sphere the higher public self-consciousness individuals have then the more sensitive one would be to the sociocultural pressure about thinness and thus the higher the expectations about the ideal appearance. Accordingly, in that culture one would have more body shame when they do not reach the ideal beauty standard. This study examines the difference between Korean and German culture, with a focus on the age group of university students who are especially sensitive to aesthetic consciousness. The results are as follows: There were differences of public self-consciousness, perceived sociocultural pressure, appearance internalization, appearance awareness and body shame between the two cultural spheres; in addition, Korean female university students were significantly higher in all the variables when compared to German female university students. The higher public self-consciousness and perceived sociocultural pressure then the higher the internalization of the ideal appearance; the ideal appearance awareness increased the body shame. In the case of the German female university student group, public self-consciousness influenced body shame directly; however, in case of the Korean female university student group public self-consciousness were not directly affective. Rather, perceived sociocultural pressures directly affected body shame and showed the difference between the cultural spheres. Finally, in regards to the direct effect about body shame, the German female university student group noted the influence of public self-consciousness as the most significant; however, the Korean female university student group noted the influence of sociocultural pressure as the most significant.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.328-349
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• 2024

In the last decade, Korean culture has progressively facilitated the assimilation of appearance-related norms established by modern Korean society among young generations in Vietnam. Of note, Vietnamese consumers residing in Korea, under the influence of diverse sociocultural factors, are aligning themselves with an ideal standard of Korean beauty through cultural adaptation. This study explores how Vietnamese students internalize Korean beauty standards and the resultant negative behavioral reactions. We investigated the effects of sociocultural pressures (media, in-group, and out-group pressure) on risky appearance management and irrational purchase behavior by mediating sociocultural internalization toward appearance. We tested how the mechanism underlying these variables differs based on how long one has resided in Korea. A total of 213 female participants were surveyed online. The research model was tested using structural equation modeling through AMOS 22.0. The findings show that media and out-group pressure significantly increased sociocultural internalization, which led to consumer behavior in the form of risky appearance management and irrational purchases. The influence of internalization on consumption behavior was stronger for short-term residents of Korea. This study contributes to the literature on acculturation by investigating how foreign consumers accept the host country's ideal beauty standards.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.48-54
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• 2006

This study was designed to find out how the sociocultural attitudes toward appearance, BMI(Body Mass Index) of adult women affect their body image and body satisfaction. A questionnaire was prepared in the survey and a total of 456 adult women were selected by way of stratified random sampling. The research findings are as follows. The sociocultural attitudes toward appearance were shown in two factors of 'internalization' and 'recognition' The body image was shown in three dimensions of 'care for appearance,' 'concern about weight,' and 'appearance attractiveness'. Internalization, recognition, and BMI affected care for appearance. Concern about weight was affected by internalization, and BMI. Appearance attractiveness was affected only by BMI. Most people were not satisfied with their weight and overall body shape in spite that they in fact had normal or lean figures except 3.3% of the total samples. From the above research findings, adult women's satisfaction with their body was shown high when they were subjectively satisfied with their appearance attractiveness. And the results indicate that adult women are under pressure of socioculturally distorted image of beauty.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.12
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• pp.173-181
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• 2017

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of sociocultural attitude toward appearance, social pressure, and stress on university students' body figure discrepancy. A total of 363 students were recruited from a university in C and A city. Data were collected by self-reported questionnaires from Oct 27 to Dec 9, 2016. Statistical analyses of the collected data were conducted using SPSS 20.0 and consisted of descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation, and multiple regression. A positive relationship was observed between body figure discrepancy and female's sociocultural attitude toward appearance (r=.406, p=.006), peer pressure (r=.197, p<.001), parental pressure (r=.176, p=.002), and stress (r=.218, p<.001). Body figure discrepancies increased with peer pressure (${\beta}=.159$, p=.007), stress (${\beta}=.186$, p=.002), and BMI (${\beta}=.186$, p=.002), and these factors accounted for 10.9% of the body figure discrepancy. To reduce body figure discrepancy, it is necessary to develop health education and promotion programs that enable university students to manage weight and stress for health maintenance and to have positive self-assessment without being hurt by other people's view or evaluation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.549-561
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• 2019

This study investigated the impact of appearance pressure from celebrities' social media upon internalization of mesomorphic ideal and muscularity dissatisfaction and the moderating role of time spent on social media in the relationships among variables in a sample of young Korean men (N=247). Those men who regularly participate in physical activities more than three times a week were included in our sample. Structural equation modeling analysis revealed that celebrities' social media pressure directly influenced both internalization and muscularity dissatisfaction, and internalization predicted muscularity dissatisfaction. A significant mediating effect of internalization in the relationships between celebrities' social media pressure and muscularity dissatisfaction was found. However, the moderating effect of time spent on social media was not found. The present results highlight the significant and negative effects of celebrities' social media on male's body image perception. By comparing the results of this study to previous studies, we can anticipate that the effects of social media on users' body image concerns can differ between male and female in the matter of time spent on social media. Implications of the study results and suggestions for future studies are discussed.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.241-251
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• 2015

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore preserved belief system supporting Korean immigrant women's Taekyo practices and influencing factors while they observe the tradition within US sociocultural context. Methods: Leininger's exploratory focused ethnographic approach was used. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with purposive sample of sixteen Korean immigrant women who gave birth in the US within last 6 months. Researcher's observation and reflective field notes were also integrated into the interview data. Leininger and McFarland's four phases of ethnographic analysis guided data analysis process. Results: The perceived belief system supporting Taekyo practices included Taekyo as an enculturated Korean tradition, connecting parents with fetus, and positive impacts on fetal development. And Korean immigrant women's Taekyo practices were influenced by resources of information, woman's orientation toward Taekyo, pressure from local Korean community, and child order. Conclusion: The findings from this research would serve as an important knowledge base to expand US health care providers' understanding of Korean traditional Taekyo practices observed by Korean immigrant women's as important prenatal self-care practices. The findings could also aid in providing more patient-centered and culturally-tailored prenatal care plan to Korean immigrant by including Korean traditional belief system supporting Taekyo practices.

• CELLMED
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.21.1-21.15
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• 2016

In Kenya, traditional knowledge on herbal medicine has remained a mainstream source of maintaining wellbeing for generations in many communities. However, the knowledge has been eroded in the course of time due to sociocultural dynamics virtually advanced by Christianity and formal education especially in the Kikuyu community. The study documented current ethnobotanical knowledge and threat to the traditional knowledge on medicinal plants among the Kikuyu community. A survey was carried out in Mathira, Tetu, Kieni, Othaya, Mukurweini, and Nyeri Town constituencies. Thirty practicing herbalists were purposively sampled; 5 per constituency. Data was obtained through semi - structured questionnaires and analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. A total of 80 ailments treated using 111 medicinal plant species distributed within 98 genera and 56 families were documented. Prevalent communicable diseases treated using herbal medicine included; gonorrhea (17.5%), malaria (15%), respiratory infections (12%), colds (10%) and amoebiasis (10%). Non-communicable diseases were; joint pains (11.1%), ulcers/hyperacidity (8.7%), high blood pressure (8.7%), intestinal worms (11.1%) and arthritis/gout (10%). Frequently harvested plant materials were; roots, barks and leaves. The study concluded that, traditional medicine practitioners in Nyeri County possessed wide knowledge of herbal medicine but this knowledge was on the verge of disappearing as it was largely a preserve of the aged generation. The study recommended massive campaign about the benefits of using herbal medicine in the study area. Further pharmacological studies are recommended on the mentioned plant species aimed at establishing their efficacy and safety as well as standardization as potential drugs.