• 한국노년학
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.463-478
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• 2011

This study examined the impact of late-life poverty on self-rated health, focusing on the mediating and moderating effects of health behaviors and social support. Despite the significant associations among poverty, health behaviors, and health outcomes, little studies have tested complex structural pathways among them. Thus, the purpose of this study is to identify multiple causal pathways between poverty and self-rated health, mediated and moderated by health behaviors and social support. To test the structural pathways, the structural equation modeling was utilized using the 2006 Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging data. The results of this study indicated that poverty had the direct negative impact not only on the health behaviors such as smoking and lack of regular exercise but also on the self-rated health. In addition, regular exercise significantly mediated the relationship between poverty and self-rated health. Finally, informal social support from family and friends buffered the negative impact of poverty on the self-rated health. Findings suggested that providing informal social support to the low income elderly is important in addition to the economic support. It is also necessary to develop programs for promoting healthy behaviors, especially regular exercise.

• 한국노년학
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.589-612
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• 2019

Korea has undergone rapid modernization and globalization process in the last few decades. The purpose of this study is to explore how shifting traditional values are impacting Korean elderlies and their perceptions of aging experience. In order to understand how changing social and cultural practices are affecting older adults, the similarities and differences among Korean elderlies living in three different geographical locations are examined in a multidimensional comparative framework. Life story interviews were conducted with 30 Korean elderlies (10 urban residents in Korea, 10 rural residents in Korea, and 10 residents in the US). Paying attention to within-group variation, this study particularly focused on analyzing the psychological, social, emotional, and spiritual experiences that made lives meaningful and resilient in old age in spite of physical decline. Based on analysis of narrative, the following major areas were identified as having positive or negative influence on aging experiences: physical health, emotional health, family relationship, work, leisure/social activity, and spirituality. Common themes of aging well across all settings included: "life not indebted to their offspring," "physical and mental health," and "dying well." Spirituality played a critical role in cultivating perspectives on life and accepting aging process, which were rooted in specific religious traditions participants identified (e.g., Christianity or Buddhism). Interesting differences in the meaning of work and leisure were also found between elderlies residing in Korea and the US immigrant context. One unique factor continuing to negatively affect Korean elderly in rural community was related to shame of not obtaining higher education. Implications for future research are also addressed.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.381-417
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• 2011

The primary goal of this study is to examine the factors that affect how satisfied sexual minorities are with their lives. This study focuses on how sexual minorities perceive social stigma, the social influences involved in its perception, and the effects this perception has. Using stress-coping theory, this study looks at how social stigma, as a perceived stress, affects social support and self-esteem, how the stigma influences the degree to which individuals "come out" in an effort to cope, and the resultant effects of this coping mechanism on life satisfaction. The data used if from a sample of 478 individuals who self identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual. It was collected through an online survey. Using SEM, the quality was evaluated by analyzing the measurement model, and the relationship of the variables included in the theoretical model was verified by analyzing the structural model. The results of this study show that social stigma directly affects the life satisfaction of Korean sexual minorities. It significantly influences the social support they receive(from family and sexual minority peers), and their self-esteem. The degree to which the individual "comes out" is shown to affect life satisfaction as well. In contrast, the mediating effect of heterosexual support is shown to be insignificant. Based on the analyses, practical strategies regarding social stigma, social support, self-esteem, and "coming out" are suggested for sexual minorities. The social stigma should be reduced and society-scaled campaigns promoted in order to improve their level of life satisfaction. In addition, institutional protection should be developed and specialized educational courses on human rights provided which will empower these minorities with self-help mechanisms. Furthermore, issues such as establishing support system and providing a social welfare system for the sexual minority community are discussed.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.15-29
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• 2013

Shopping is considered a 'must-do' activity for most people on travel. One of the major parts of tourist shopping is the purchasing of souvenirs. Souvenirs are universally associated with tourism as a commercially produced and purchased object to remind the purchaser of the experience. Recently, Korea becomes one of the most popular destinations that many Asian tourists like to visit. Among those Asian tourists, the number of Thai tourists bound for Korea shows an incredible rapid growth. Thai people pick Korea and Seoul as their favorite country and city to visit for three consecutive years since 2009. One of the major reasons why Thais are choosing to tour Korea is the enthusiasm for Korean pop culture. That is, 'Hallyu' has influenced Thais' decision to visit Korea and purchase Korean products. The primary objective of the current research is to explore the shopping experiences of Thai tourists, specifically their souvenir shopping. It adopts a reflexive interpretive approach to bring light to the various meanings Thai tourists attach to the souvenirs they purchase in Korea. In order to accomplish the objective, the individual interviews were conducted. A total of 12 Thais who have experienced traveling in Korea participated in the study. Four themes were identified through interview text analysis. First, the research participants almost always purchase souvenirs in Korea because the souvenirs represent their identities as tourists. Especially, they purchase the souvenirs as gifts for others, including family members, friends, and colleagues. The souvenirs as gifts show love and thanks to others, and they cement the social relationship. However, purchasing souvenirs for others is more like the moral obligations which evoke the psychological stress. Secondly, the research participants feel closer to Korea while shopping souvenirs around. Thirdly, they obtain imaginative experiences and pleasure through souvenirs related to the Korean pop culture. Souvenirs provide them to visually extraordinary experiences. Lastly, souvenirs purchased in Korea act as visible status marker when they go back to Thailand. They show the socioeconomic status and lifestyles. Tourists themselves and others place special value to souvenirs that were purchased out of Thailand. The findings of this study are of both academic and practical importance. Souvenirs are among the most pervasive elements of the travel experience. However, souvenir shopping is the complicated consumer behavior within tourism both from business and social science perspectives. Along the same line, it needs strategic approaches in order to maximize the economy effects. It concludes by suggesting how further research could offer unique insights into how the souvenirs are positioned both in the context of tourism academics and industry.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.333-359
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• 2017

We examined the moderator roles of negative belief in emotional expression and emotional clarity between work-life balance and psychological symptoms (depression, anxiety and somatization). Also we identified gender differences in their moderating effects. This study was based on a sample of 869 married working employees (man: 424, women: 445). Hierarchical moderated regression analyses showed that work-life balance, negative belief in emotional expression and emotional clarity were strongly associated with depression, anxiety and somatization. While negative belief in emotional expression significantly moderated the relationship between work-life balance and depression and anxiety, emotional clarity showed no significance. We found gender differences in moderating effects of two moderators. In specific, the only women who had more negative belief in emotional expression were more psychological symptoms in a low work-life balance situation. On the other hand, the only men who had higher emotional clarity were less depressive and anxious under the conditions of high work-life balance. We discussed about implications of these results.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.423-445
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• 2010

Previous research have demonstrated that the external factors (ex., money, appearance) are more influential in Easterners' self-views and conditions for happiness than those of Westerners'. Based on these results, the current study examined whether 1) children and adolescents acquired these tendency as they grew up and 2) this tendency had relevance with social comparison. Total 954 students (260 elementary, 216 middle school, 260 high school and 218 college students) participated in the study. The results showed that elementary and middle school students regarded the internal factors (ex., thinking, feeling) as more important. But high school students considered the external factors as more important, and there was no difference in college students. Also, the results revealed that elementary and middle school students regarded the harmony of family and peace of mind as more important conditions for happiness. These results contrasted with preference for better educational backgrounds, better occupation, and money in high school and college students. In addition, age and social comparison tendency had positive relation with external self-concepts and negative relation with self-esteem. Especially, high school students showed strongest external self-concepts and social comparison tendency among four age groups. They also showed strongest preference for external conditions for happiness, but their self-esteem was the lowest. This might reflect fierce competition for college education in Korea, and the results of the current study have demonstrated that adolescents developed a tendency to prefer external factors to internal factors as they grew up in a competitive environment.

• Journal of Korean Dental Science
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.128-148
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• 2023

Dementia is an umbrella term that describes the loss of thinking, memory, attention, logical reasoning, and other mental abilities to the extent that it interferes with the activities of daily living. More than 50 million individuals worldwide live with dementia, which is expected to increase to 131 million by 2050. Recent research has shown that poor oral health increases the risk of dementia, while oral health declines with cognitive decline. In this narrative review, the literature was based on the "hypothesis" that dementia and oral health have a close relationship, and appropriate oral health and occlusal rehabilitation treatment can improve the quality of life of patients with dementia and prevent progression. We conducted a literature search in PubMed and Google Scholar databases, using the search terms "dementia," "major neurocognitive disorder," "dentition," "occlusion," "tooth loss," "dental prosthesis," "dental implant," and "occlusal rehabilitation" in the title field over the past 30 years. A total of 131 studies that scientifically addressed dementia, oral health, and/or oral rehabilitation were included. In a meta-analysis, the random effect model demonstrated significant tooth loss increasing the dementia risk 3.64-fold (pooled odds ratio=3.64, 95% confidence interval [2.50~5.32], P-value=0.0348). Tooth loss can be an important indicator of cognitive function decline. As the number of missing teeth increases, the risk of dementia increases. Loss of teeth can lead to a decrease in the ascending information to the brain and reduced masticatory ability, cerebral blood flow, and psychological atrophy. Oral microbiome dysbiosis and migration of key bacterial species to the brain can also cause dementia. Additionally, inflammation in the oral cavity affects the inflammatory response of the brain and the complete body. Conversely, proper oral hygiene management, the placement of dental implants or prostheses to replace lost teeth, and the restoration of masticatory function can inhibit symptom progression in patients with dementia. Therefore, improving oral health can prevent dementia progression and improve the quality of life of patients.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.10 no.spc
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• pp.177-209
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• 2004

This paper provides a theoretical and conceptual framework for understanding adolescent culture and educational achievement in Korea. In the first part of the paper, the authors outline a research paradigm in cultural psychology and adolescent culture. In the second section, the traditional family structure, the role of parents, and how they have been changed by modernization are outlined. In the third section, socialization practices and parent-child relationship are reviewed. In the fourth section, Western theories that have been developed to explain educational achievement and their limitations are examined. In the fifth section, factors that contribute to educational success of Korean students are presented. In the final section, the impact of centralized, standardized, and rigid educational system that is imposed on adolescents is discussed. The highly regulated and centralized bureaucracy restricts educational and career opportunities for adolescents and it is responsible for the high rate of violence, delinquency, and bullying in Korea. The need for encouraging civil society that allows for diversity of ideas and skills and at the same time maintaining strong relational bonds are discussed.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.127-164
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• 2003

This study investigates how Korean children and adolescents perceive their parents using the indigenous psychological approach. An open-ended questionnaire was developed by the first two authors to investigate reasons why children and adolescents feel grateful, respect, indebted, close, conflict, and distance with their parents. A total of 763 participants (212 grade three students, 267 grade eight students, and 284 grade eleven students) completed the questionnaire. The results can be summarized into three main points. First, the vast majority of children and adolescents feel grateful, respect, and indebted to their parents. They feel grateful, respect and indebted for the sacrifice and suffering they experience looking after the family. Moreover, they respects their parents because of their sincerity, blood relationship, benevolence, guidance and educational support. They feel indebted since they did not obey them, were not able to meet their expectations, and were not diligent in their schoolwork. They felt especially close to their mother. The conflict they felt was due to generational gap and in their academic performance. Second, age affects how they perceive their parents. The parent-child conflict increases with age. The feeling of indebtedness also increase with age. However, the feeling of gratefulness and respects decreases with age. The feeling of closeness with father also decreases with age. Third, socio-economic status and educational achievement of children and adolescent affect the perception of their parents. Those with higher academic grade and socio-economic status are more likely to feel respect and indebtedness and less likely to feel conflict and distance.

• Industry Promotion Research
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.179-187
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• 2024

This study aims to develop policies and programs to improve self-differentiation that will have an impact on establishing a positive view of marriage among college students by examining and confirming the impact of college students' self-differentiation on their views on marriage among college students in early adulthood. This is an attempted research study. For this purpose, a self-report online survey was conducted and analyzed among 204 college students attending a university in northern Gyeonggi Province. The analysis method used SPSS 25.0 program to calculate internal consistency, frequency analysis to identify the general characteristics of the research subject, descriptive statistical analysis to determine the level of the research variable, and differences in research variables according to the characteristics of the research subject. To find out, an independent samples t-test, analysis of variance, and post hoc test were conducted, and analysis using SPSS Process Macro was conducted to verify the mediation effect. The results of the analysis showed a positive (+) correlation between self-differentiation and views on marriage, which suggests that self-differentiation has a significant impact on establishing a positive view on marriage, and for this purpose, it is necessary to establish a positive view on marriage among college students. To this end, we aimed to provide basic data to support education for healthy families through national policy.