• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.563-592
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• 2018

In this research, it was examined whether the importance of value of self(i.e., self-referenced values) and the perceived importance of values of average Koreans(i.e., culture-referenced values) differ according to social class. In Study 1, differences in the importance of self-referenced values according to the social class of 1,140 adults aged over 19 years old were examined using Korean data from the World Values Survey. Findings showed that higher social class was associated with higher levels of Hedonism (which belongs to the individualistic value domain) and Benevolence, and lower levels of Tradition (which belongs to the collectivistic value domain) and Universalism. In Study 2, culture-referent questionnaires were added to examine the differences in self-referenced values and culture-referenced values according to social class. Findings showed that higher social class was associated with greater importance attached to individualistic value domain (namely, Power and Achievement), and as a result of Study 1, less importance attached to Benevolence towards the self. On the contrary, for culture-referent ratings, higher social class was associated with lower perceptions of the importance of individualistic value domain (namely, Self-direction and Hedonism) and greater importance attached to Tradition (which belongs to the collectivistic value domain) for average Koreans. These results suggest that the importance of self-referenced values and culture-referenced values differ by social class. The need for social class research taking into account culture and the importance of the culture-referent ratings is highlighted. Future directions for research are discussed.