This article aimed to test whether specific social values (i.e., achievement vs. benevolence) could cause changes in decision making on bio-ethical issues. Study 1 investigated value preferences among young Korean college students according to Schwartz's (1992) model of social values. According to the results, the preference for achievement value was correlated negatively with the preference for benevolence value. In Study 2, following a sentence completion task which was conducted to trigger specific values, the participants had to indicate their ethical decisions regarding animal experiment, euthanasia, organ transplantation, biotechnology, sex selection and human cloning, Irrespective of the value priming (achievement vs. benevolence), there were more utilitarian decisions about animal experiment, euthanasia and organ transplantation. In contrary, there were more deontological decisions about sex selection and human cloning. Study 3 introduced a word completion task to assess implicit value preferences. The results showed that the participants with implicit preferences for the benevolence value in the condition of benevolence value priming were more frequently against animal experiments and organ transplantation than those with implicit value preferences for the achievement value. Social values are discussed for understanding one’s bioethical decision making.
The purpose of this study is to explore the motivation for, expectations of, consequences of, and attitudes toward whistle-blowing. that whistle-blowers experience in the whistle-blowing process, and clarify the difference between the ideal and reality. Fourteen official whistle-blowers were interviewed and qualitative data were analyzed based on phenomenological approach. As a result, motivational themes appeared such as professional spirit and personal values. They also tried to pursue public interest such as social changes as well as public support for them. In addition, the participants believed that the cultural characteristics of Korean society such as vertical collectivism are responsible for the gap between ideals and reality of whistle-blowing. In particular, They also suggested a few alternative for reducing the gap.
Workplace bullying is becoming one of social issues. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the contextual variables(communication climate, social climate) moderate the relations between the individual variables(trait anger, social avoidance) and workplace bullying victimization. The self-report data of 207 office workers(115 men, 92 women) in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do was analyzed. The results of hierarchical regression indicate that trait anger positively predicted men’s workplace bullying victimization only when social climate is bad. Social avoidance positively predicted men’s bullying victimization only when communication climate is good. There was no moderating effect of the contextual variables among women. Trait anger positively predicted women’s workplace bullying victimization only when considering communication climate as a contextual variable. Social avoidance has no significant effect on women’s workplace bullying victimization. However, both communication climate and social climate negatively predicted women’s victimization. The implications and suggestions for prevention and intervention of workplace bullying were discussed.
The present research investigated the psychological nature of low levels of trust in Korean society and the role of family expansionism, a cultural psychological factor, in this phenomenon. Specifically, we examined the possibility that Koreans’ distrust toward social system is, at least partially, due to high standards for trust, which might be closely related to Koreans’ cultural characteristic of family expansionism. In Study 1, the relations between levels of family expansionism, trust standards, and actual levels of trust for parents, judiciary, and politicians were examined among 540 Korean adults. In Study 2, we manipulated levels of family expansionism to examine its effect on trust standards. Results showed that trust standards were higher for politicians than parents. Participants’ trust standards for politics were unrealistically high, especially on the responsibility factor. Actual levels of trust for judiciary and politicians were low when the trust standards for these targets relative to trust standards for parents were high. Moreover, the trust standards and levels of trust for judiciary and politicians (relative to those for parents) were positively correlated to levels of family expansionism. In other words, higher levels of family expansionism were linked to higher trust standards and levels of distrust for judiciary and politicians. In addition, Study 2 results showed that trust standards became high when family expansionism was induced. Unlike previous studies which focused on causes of low levels of trust while assuming that Korean society itself is a low trust society, the present research investigated the underlying mechanism behind the seemingly low trust in Korean society.